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THE UNIT BOOKS 

No. 8 1 April 1904 






NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



The Unit Books 
No. 8 21 units cloth 72 cts net 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE 

The texts of the notable state 
papers here given are derived 
from the most trustworthy sources 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

STATE PAPERS SO ARRANGED AS TO 

ILLUSTRATE THE GROWTH OF 

OUR COUNTRY FROM 1606 

TO THE PRESENT DAY 




NEW YORK 
HOWARD WILFORD BELL 

1904 



Copyright 1904 
y Howard Wilford Bell 






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I 



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The Trow Press New York 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

First Charter of Virginia 1606 

I. JAMES, by the Grace of God, King of England, 
Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
Whereas our loving and well-disposed Subjects, Sir 

: Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, Knights, Richard 
Haeklnit, Prebendary of Westminster, and Edward-Maria 

k Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, Esqrs. 

) William Parker, and George Popham, Gentlemen, and 
divers others of our loving Subjects, have been humble 
Suitors unto us, that We would vouchsafe unto them our 
Licence, to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a 
Colony of sundry of our People into that Part of America, 
commonly called Virginia, and other Parts and Territories 
in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not 
now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or People, 
situate, lying, and being all along the Sea Coasts, between 
four and thirty Degrees of Northerly Latitude from the 
Equinoctial Line, and five and forty Degrees of the same 
Latitude, and in the main Land between the same four and 
thirty and five and forty Degrees, and the Islands there- 
unto adjacent, or within one hundred Miles of the Coasts 
thereof ; 

II. And to that End, and for the more speedy Accom- 
plishment of their said intended Plantation and Habitation 
there, are desirous to divide themselves into two several 
Colonies and Companies; The one consisting of certain 
Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, and other Adventurers, of 
our City of London and elsewhere, which are, and from 
time to time shall be, joined unto them, which do desire to 

5 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

begin their Plantation and Habitation in some fit and con- 
venient Place, between four and thirty and one and forty 
Degrees of the said Latitude, along the Coasts of Virginia 
and Coasts of America aforesaid; And the other consisting 
of sundry Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, and other Ad- 
venturers, of our Cities of Bristol and Exeter, and of our 
Town of Plimouth, and of other Places, which do join them- 
selves unto that Colony, which do desire to begin their 
Plantation and Habitation in some fit and convenient Place, 
between eight and thirty Degrees and five and forty De- 
grees of the said Latitude, all alongst the said Coast of 
Virginia and America, as that Coast lyeth: 

III. We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting 
of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, 
which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter 
tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of 
Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness 
and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Wor- 
ship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Sav- 
ages, living in those Parts, to human Civility, and to a 
settled and quiet Government; DO, by these our Letters 
Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble 
and well-intended Desires ; 

IV. And do therefore, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
GRANT and agree, that the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir 
George Somers, Richard Hackluit, and Edward-Maria 
Wingfield, Adventurers of and for our City of London, and 
all such others, as are, or shall be, joined unto them of that 
Colony, shall be called the first Colony; And they shall 
and may begin their said first Plantation and Habitation, at 
any Place upon the said Coast of Virginia or America, 
where they shall think fit and convenient, between the said 
four and thirty and one and forty Degrees of the said 
Latitude; And that they shall have all the Lands, Woods, 

6 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, 
Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Heredita- 
ments, whatsoever, from the said first Seat of their Planta- 
tion and Habitation by the Space of fifty Miles of English 
Statute Measure, all along the said Coast of Virginia and 
America, towards the West and Southwest, as the Coast 
lyeth, with all the Islands within one hundred Miles directly 
over against the same Sea Coast; And also all the Lands, 
Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, 
Woods, Waters, Marshes, Fishings, Commodities, and 
Hereditaments, whatsoever, from the said Place of their 
first Plantation and Habitation for the space of fifty like 
English Miles, all alongst the said Coast of Virginia and 
America, towards the East and Northeast, or towards the 
North, as the Coast lyeth, together with all the Islands 
within one hundred Miles, directly over against the said 
Sea Coast; And also all the Lands, Woods, Soil, Grounds, 
Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, Marshes, Waters, 
Fishings, Commodities, and Hereditaments, whatsoever, 
from the same fifty Miles every way on the Sea Coast, 
directly into the main Land by the Space of one hundred 
like English Miles; And shall and may inhabit and remain 
there; and shall and may also build and fortify within any 
the same, for their better Safeguard and Defence, according 
to their best Discretion, and the Discretion of the Council 
of that Colony ; And that no other of our Subj ects shall be 
permitted, or suffered, to plant or inhabit behind, or on the 
Backside of them, towards the main Land, without the 
Express Licence or Consent of the Council of that Colony, 
thereunto in Writing first had and obtained. 

V. And we do likewise, for Us, our Heirs, and Succes- 
sors, by these Presents, Grant and agree, that the said 
Thomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, 
and George Popham, and all others of the Town of Pli- 

7 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

mouth in the County of Devon, or elsewhere, which are, or 
shall be, joined unto them of that Colony, shall be called 
the second Colony; And that they shall and may begin their 
said Plantation and Seat of their first Abode and Habita- 
tion, at any Place upon the said Coast of Virginia and 
America, where they shall think fit and convenient, between 
eight and thirty Degrees of the said Latitude, and five and 
forty Degrees of the same Latitude; And that they shall 
have all the Lands, Soils, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, 
Mines, Minerals, Woods, Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Com- 
modities, and Hereditaments, whatsoever, from the first 
Seat of their Plantation and Habitation by the Space of 
fifty like English Miles, as is aforesaid, all alongst the said 
Coast of Virginia and America, towards the West and 
Southwest, or towards the South, as the Coast lyeth, and 
all the Islands within one hundred Miles, directly over 
against the said Sea Coast; And also all the Lands, Soils, 
Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, Woods, 
Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Heredita- 
ments, whatsoever, from the said Place of their first Planta- 
tion and Habitation for the Space of fifty like Miles, all 
alongst the said Coast of Virginia and America, towards 
the East and Northeast, or towards the North, as the Coast 
lyeth, and all the Islands also within one hundred Miles 
directly over against the same Sea Coast; And also all the 
Lands, Soils, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Woods, 
Mines, Minerals, Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, 
and Hereditaments, whatsoever, from the same fifty Miles 
every way on the Sea Coast, directly into the main Land, 
by the Space of one hundred like English Miles ; And shall 
and may inhabit and remain there; and shall and may also 
build and fortify within any the same for their better Safe- 
guard, according to their best Discretion, and the Discre- 
tion of the Council of that Colony; And that none of our 

8 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Subjects shall be permitted, or suffered, to plant or inhabit 
behind, or on the back of them, towards the main Land, 
without the express Licence of the Council of that Colony, 
in Writing thereunto first had and obtained. 

VI. Provided always, and our Will and Pleasure herein 
is, that the Plantation and Habitation of such of the said 
Colonies, as shall last plant themselves, as aforesaid, shall 
not be made within one hundred like English Miles of the 
other of them, that first began to make their Plantation, as 
aforesaid. 

VII. And we do also ordain, establish, and agree, for Us, 
our Heirs, and Successors, that each of the said Colonies 
shall have a Council, which shall govern and order all 
Matters and Causes, which shall arise, grow, or happen, to 
or within the same several Colonies, according to such Laws, 
Ordinances, and Instructions, as shall be, in that behalf, 
given and signed with Our Hand or Sign Manual, and pass 
under the Privy Seal of our Realm of England; Each of 
which Councils shall consist of thirteen Persons, to be 
ordained, made, and removed, from time to time, according 
as shall be directed, and comprised in the same instruc- 
tions; And shall have a several Seal, for all Matters that 
shall pass or concern the same several Councils; Each of 
which Seals shall have the King's Arms engraven on the 
one Side thereof, and his Portraiture on the other ; And that 
the Seal for the Council of the said first Colony shall have 
engraven round about, on the one Side, these Words ; Sigil- 
lum Regis Magna? Britannia?, Francia?, fy Hibernia?; on the 
other Side this Inscription, round about; Pro Concilio 
prima? Colonice Virginia?. And the Seal for the Council of 
the said second Colony shall also have engraven, round 
about the one Side thereof, the aforesaid Words; Sigillum 
Regis Magna?, Britannia?, Francia?, fy Hibernia?; and on the 
other Side; Pro Concilio secunda? Colonia? Virginia?: 

9 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

VIII. And that also there shall be a Council established 
here in England, which shall, in like Manner, consist of 
thirteen Persons, to be, for that Purpose, appointed by Us, 
our Heirs and Successors, which shall be called our Council 
of Virginia; And shall, from time to time, have the superior 
Managing and Direction, only of and for all Matters, that 
shall or may concern the Government, as well of the said 
several Colonies, as of and for any other Part or Place, 
within the aforesaid Precincts of four and thirty and five 
and forty Degrees, abovementioned ; Which Council shall, 
in like manner, have a Seal, for Matters concerning the 
Council or Colonies, with the like Arms and Portraiture, 
as aforesaid, with this Inscription, engraven round about 
on the one Side; Sigilluin Regis Magna; Britannia?, Francice, 
fy Hibernice; and round about the other Side, Pro Concilio 
suo Virginias. 

IX. And moreover, we do Grant and agree, for Us, our 
Heirs and Successors, that the said several Councils, of 
and for the said several Colonies, shall and lawfully may, 
by Virtue hereof, from time to time, without any Interrup- 
tion of Us, our Heirs or Successors, give and take Order, 
to dig, mine, and search for all Manner of Mines of Gold, 
Silver, and Copper, as well within any part of their said 
several Colonies, as for the said main Lands on the Back- 
side of the same Colonies; And to Have and enjoy the 
Gold, Silver, and Copper, to be gotten thereof, to the Use 
and Behoof of the same Colonies, and the Plantations there- 
of; Yielding therefore, to Us, our Heirs and Successors, 
the fifth Part only of all the same Gold and Silver, and the 
fifteenth Part of all the same Copper, so to be gotten or 
had, as is aforesaid, without any other Manner or Profit or 
Account, to be given or yielded to Us, our Heirs, or Suc- 
cessors, for or in Respect of the same: 

X. And that they shall, or lawfully may, establish and 

10 




NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

cause to be made a Coin, to pass current there between the 
People of those several Colonies, for the more Ease of 
Traffick and Bargaining between and amongst them and 
the Natives there, of such Metal, and in such Manner and 
Form, as the said several Councils there shall limit and 
appoint. 

XI. And we do likewise, for Us, our Heirs, and Succes- 
sors, by these Presents, give full Power and Authority to 
the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard 
Hackluit, Edward-Maria Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, 
Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, and 
to every of them, and to the said several Companies, Planta- 
tions, and Colonies, that they, and every of them, shall and 
may, at all and every time and times hereafter, have, take, 
and lead in the said Voyage, and for and towards the said 
several Plantations and Colonies, and to travel thitherward, 
and to abide and inhabit there, in every the said Colonies 
and Plantations, such and so many of our Subjects, as shall 
willingly accompany them, or any of them, in the said 
Voyages and Plantations; With sufficient Shipping and 
Furniture of Armour, Weapons, Ordinance, Powder, Vic- 
tual, and all other things, necessary for the said Planta- 
tions, and for their Use and Defence there: Provided 
always, that none of the said Persons be such, as shall 
hereafter be specially restrained by Us, our Heirs, or 
Successors. 

XII. Moreover, we do, by these Presents, for Us, our 
Heirs, and Successors, Give and grant Licence unto the 
said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard HacJc- 
luit, Edward-Maria Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, Ralegh 
Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, and to every 
of the said Colonies, that they, and every of them, shall 
and may, from time to time, and at all times for ever here- 
after, for their several Defences, encounter, expulse, repel, 

11 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and resist, as well by Sea as by Land, by all Ways and 
Means whatsoever, all and every such Person and Per- 
sons, as without the especial Licence of the said several 
Colonies and Plantations, shall attempt to inhabit within 
the said several Precincts and Limits of the said several 
Colonies and Plantations, or any of them, or that shall 
enterprise or attempt, at any time hereafter, the Hurt, 
Detriment, or Annoyance, of the said several Colonies or 
Plantations. 

XIII. Giving and granting, by these Presents, unto 
the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard 
Hackluit, Edward-Maria Wingfield, and their Associates 
of the said first Colony, and unto the said Thomas Hanham, 
Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Popham, and 
their Associates of the said second Colony, and to every of 
them, from time to time, and at all times for ever hereafter, 
Power and Authority to take and surprise, by all Ways and 
Means whatsoever, all and every Person and Persons, with 
their Ships, Vessels, Goods and other Furniture, which shall 
be found trafficking, into any Harbour or Harbours, Creek 
or Creeks, or Place, within the Limits or Precincts of the 
said several Colonies and Plantations, not being of the same 
Colony, until such time, as they, being of any Realms or 
Dominions under our Obedience, shall pay, or agree to pay, 
to the Hands of the Treasurer of that Colony, within whose 
Limits and Precincts they shall so traffick, two and a half 
upon every Hundred, of any thing, so by them trafficked, 
bought, or sold; And being Strangers, and not Subjects 
under our Obeys ance, until they shall pay five upon every 
Hundred, of such Wares and Merchandise, as they shall 
traffick, buy, or sell, within the Precincts of the said several 
Colonies, wherein they shall so traffick, buy, or sell, as afore- 
said, Which Sums of Money, or Benefit, as aforesaid, for 
and during the Space of one and twenty Years, next ensu- 

12 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing the Date hereof, shall be wholly emploied to the Use, 
Benefit, and Behoof of the said several Plantations, where 
such TraiHck shall be made; And after the said one and 
twenty Years ended, the same shall be taken to the Use of 
Us, our Heirs, and Successors, by such Officers and Minis- 
ters, as by Us, our Heirs, and Successors, shall be thereunto 
assigned or appointed. 

XIV. And we do further, by these Presents, for Us, our 
Heirs, and Successors, Give and grant unto the said Sir 
Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hackluit, and 
Edward-Maria Wingfield, and to their Associates of the 
said first Colony and Plantation, and to the said Thomas 
Hanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George Pop- 
ham, and their Associates of the said second Colony and 
Plantation, that they, and every of them, by their Deputies, 
Ministers, and Factors, may transport the Goods, Chattels, 
Armour, Munition, and Furniture, needful to be used by 
them, for their said Apparel, Food, Defence, or otherwise 
in Respect of the said Plantations, out of our Realms of 
England and Ireland, and all other our Dominions, from 
time to time, for and during the Time of seven Years, next 
ensuing the Date hereof, for the better Relief of the said 
several Colonies and Plantations, without any Custom, 
Subsidy, or other Duty, unto Us, our Heirs, or Successors, 
to be yielded or paid for the same. 

XV. Also we do, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
Declare, by these Presents, that all and every the Persons, 
being our Subjects, which shall dwell and inhabit within 
every or any of the said several Colonies and Plantations, 
and every of their children, which shall happen to be born 
within any of the Limits and Precincts of the said several 
Colonies and Plantations, shall have and enjoy all Liberties, 
Franchises, and Immunities, within any of our other 
Dominions, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been 

13 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

abiding and born, within this our Realm of England, or any 
other of our said Dominions. 

XVI. Moreover, our gracious Will and Pleasure is, and 
we do, by these Presents, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
declare and set forth, that if any Person or Persons, which 
shall be of any of the said Colonies and Plantations, or any 
other, which shall traffick to the said Colonies and Planta- 
tions, or any of them, shall, at any time or times hereafter, 
transport any Wares, Merchandises, or Commodities, out 
of any of our Dominions, with a Pretence to land, sell, or 
otherwise dispose of the same, within any the Limits and 
Precincts of any the said Colonies and Plantations, and yet 
nevertheless, being at Sea, or after he hath landed the same 
within any of the said Colonies and Plantations, shall carry 
the same into any other Foreign Country, with a Purpose 
there to sell or dispose of the same, without the Licence of 
Us, our Heirs, and Successors, in that Behalf first had and 
obtained; That then, all the Goods and Chattels of such 
Person or Persons, so offending and transporting, together 
with the said Ship or Vessel, wherein such Transportation 
was made, shall be forfeited to Us, our Heirs, and Suc- 
cessors. 

XVII. Provided always, and our Will and Pleasure is, 
and we do hereby declare to all Christian Kings, Princes, 
and States, that if any Person or Persons, which shall here- 
after be of any of the said several Colonies and Plantations, 
or any other, by his, their or any of their Licence and 
Appointment, shall, at any time or times hereafter, rob or 
spoil, by Sea or by Land, or do any Act of unjust and un- 
lawful Hostility, to any the Subjects of Us, our Heirs, or 
Successors, or any the Subjects of any King, Prince, Ruler, 
Governor, or State, being then in League or Amity with 
Us, our Heirs, or Successors, and that upon such Injury, 
or upon just Complaint of such Prince, Ruler, Governor, or 

14 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

State, or their Subjects, We, our Heirs, or Successors, shall 
make open Proclamation, within any of the Ports of our 
Realm of England, commodious for that Purpose, That the 
said Person or Persons, having committed any such Rob- 
bery or Spoil, shall, within the Term to be limited by such 
Proclamations, make full Restitution or Satisfaction of all 
such Injuries done, so as the said Princes, or others, so 
complaining, may hold themselves fully satisfied and con- 
tented; And that, if the said Person or Persons, having 
committed such Robbery or Spoil, shall not make, or cause 
to be made, Satisfaction accordingly, within such Time so 
to be limited, That then it shall be lawful to Us, our Heirs, 
and Successors, to put the said Person or Persons, having 
committed such Robbery or Spoil, and their Procurers, 
Abetters, or Comforters, out of our Allegiance and Protec- 
tion; And that it shall be lawful and free, for all Princes 
and others, to pursue with Hostility the said Oifenders, and 
every of them, and their and every of their Procurers, 
Aiders, Abetters, and Comforters, in that Behalf. 

XVIII. And finally, we do, for Us, our Heirs, and Suc- 
cessors, Grant and agree, to and with the said Sir Thomas 
Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hachluit, and Edward 
Maria Wing-field, and all others of the said first Colony, 
that We, our Heirs, and Successors, upon Petition in that 
Behalf to be made, shall, by Letters-patent under the Great 
Seal of England, Give and Grant unto such Persons, their 
Heirs, and Assigns, as the Council of that Colony, or the 
most Part of them, shall, for that Purpose nominate and 
assign, all the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, which 
shall be within the Precincts limited for that Colony, as 
is aforesaid, To be holden of Us, our Heirs, and Succes- 
sors, as of our Manor at East-Greenwich in the County of 
Kent, in free and common Soccage only, and not in Capite: 

XIX. And do, in like Manner, Grant and Agree, for Us, 

15 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

our Heirs, and Successors, to and with the said Thomas 
Hanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George 
Popham, and all others of the said second Colony, That We, 
our Heirs, and Successors, upon Petition in that Behalf to 
be made, shall, by Letters-patent under the Great Seal of 
England, Give and Grant unto such Persons, their Heirs, 
and Assigns, as the Council of that Colony, or the most 
Part of them, shall, for that Purpose, nominate and assign, 
all the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, which shall 
be within the Precincts limited for that Colony, as is afore- 
said To be holden of Us, our Heirs, and Successors, as of 
our Manour of East-Greenwich in the County of Kent, in 
free and common Soccage only, and not in Capite. 

XX. All which Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, 
so to be passed by the said several Letters-patent, shall be 
sufficient Assurance from the said Patentees, so distributed 
and divided amongst the Undertakers for the Plantation 
of the said several Colonies, and such as shall make their 
Plantations in either of the said several Colonies, in such 
Manner and Form, and for such Estates, as shall be 
ordered and set down by the Council of the said Colony, or 
the most Part of them, respectively, within which the same 
Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments shall lye or be; 
Although express Mention of the true yearly Value or Cer- 
tainty of the Premises, or any of them, or of any other 
Gifts or Grants, by Us or any of our Progenitors or Pred- 
ecessors, to the aforesaid Sir Thomas Gates, Knt. Sir 
George Somers, Knt. Richard Hachluit, Edward-Maria 
Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William 
Parker, and George Popham, or any of them, heretofore 
made, in these Presents, is not made; Or any Statute, Act, 
Ordinance, or Provision, Proclamation, or Restraint, to the 
contrary hereof had, made, ordained, or any other Thing, 
Cause, or Matter whatsoever, in any wise notwithstanding. 

16 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

In Witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be 
made Patents; Witness Ourself at Westminster, the tenth 
Day of April, in the fourth Year of our Reign of England, 
France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the nine and thirtieth. 



17 



The Mayflower Compact 1620 

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are under- 
written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereigne Lord, 
King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, 
France, and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having 
undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the 
Christian faith, and honour of our king and country, a 
voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of 
Virginia, doe, by these presents solemnly and mutually in 
the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and 
combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for 
our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of 
the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, consti- 
tute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, 
constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be 
thought most meete and convenient for the generall good 
of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission 
and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder sub- 
scribed our names at Cap-Codd the 11. of November, in 
the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, 
of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of 
Scotland the fif tie-fourth. Anno. Dom. 1620. 



18 



Articles of Confederation of the New England 
Colonies 164-3 

Articles of Confederation between the Plantations under 
the Government of Massachusetts, the Plantations under 
the Government of New Plymouth, the Plantations under 
the Government of Connecticut, and the Government of 
New Haven with the Plantations in Combination there- 
with: 

Whereas we all came into these parts of America with 
one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the king- 
dom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties 
of the Gospel in purity with peace; and whereas in our 
settling (by a wise providence of God) we are further dis- 
persed upon the sea coasts and rivers than was at first in- 
tended, so that we can not according to our desire with con- 
venience communicate in one government and jurisdiction; 
and whereas we live encompassed with people of several 
nations and strange languages which hereafter may prove 
injurious to us or our posterity; and forasmuch as the 
natives have formerly committed sundry insolences and 
outrages upon several plantations of the English and have 
of late combined themselves against us; and seeing, by 
reason of those sad distractions in England (which they 
have heard of) and by which they know we are hindered 
from that humble way of seeking advice or reaping those 
comfortable fruits of protection which at other times we 
might well expect; we therefore do conceive it our bounden 
duty, without delay to enter into a present consociation 
amongst ourselves, for mutual help and strength in all our 
future concernments. That, as in nation and religion, so in 

19 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

other respects, we be and continue one according to the tenor 
and true meaning of the ensuing articles. 1. Wherefore 
it is fully agreed and concluded by and between the parties 
or jurisdictions above named,, and they jointly and severally 
do by these presents agree and conclude, that they all be and 
henceforth be called by the name of the United Colonies of 
New England. 

2. The said United Colonies, for themselves and their 
posterities, do jointly and severally hereby enter into a 
firm and perpetual league of friendship and amity, for 
offence and defence, mutual advice and succor upon all just 
occasions, both for preserving and propagating the truth 
and liberties of the Gospel, and for their own mutual 
safety and welfare. 

3. It is further agreed that the plantations which at 
present are or hereafter shall be settled with [in] the limits 
of the Massachusetts shall be forever under the Massachu- 
setts, and shall have peculiar jurisdiction among themselves 
in all cases, as an entire body. And that Plymouth, Con- 
necticut, and New Haven shall each of them have like 
peculiar jurisdiction and government within their limits 
and in reference to the plantations which already are set- 
tled, or shall hereafter be erected, or shall settle within 
their limits, respectively; provided no other jurisdiction 
shall hereafter be taken in, as a distinct head or member 
of this confederation, nor shall any other plantation or 
jurisdiction in present being, and not already in combina- 
tion or under the jurisdiction of any of these confederates, 
be received by any of them; nor shall any two of the con- 
federates join in one jurisdiction without consent of the 
rest, which consent to be interpreted as is expressed in the 
sixth article ensuing. 

4. It is by these confederates agreed, that the charge of 
all just wars, whether offensive or defensive, upon what part 

20 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

or member of this confederation soever they fall, shall both 
in men, provisions, and all other disbursements be borne by 
all the parts of this confederation in different proportions 
according to their different abilities, in manner following: 
namely, that the commissioners for each jurisdiction from 
time to time, as there shall be occasion, bring a true account 
and number of all their males in every plantation, or any 
way belonging to or under their several jurisdictions, of 
what quality or condition soever they be, from 16 years old 
to 60, being inhabitants there; and that according to the 
different numbers which from time to time shall be found 
in each jurisdiction upon a true and just account, the service 
of men and all charges of the war be borne by the poll; 
each jurisdiction or plantation being left to their own just 
course and custom of rating themselves and people accord- 
ing to their different estates with due respects to their 
qualities and exemptions amongst themselves though the 
confederates take no notice of any such privilege. And 
that according to their different charge of each jurisdiction 
and plantation, the whole advantage of the war (if it please 
God so to bless their endeavours,) whether it be in lands, 
goods, or persons, shall be proportionally divided among 
the said confederates. 

5. It is further agreed, that if these jurisdictions, or any 
plantation under or in combination with them, be invaded 
by any enemy whomsoever, upon notice and request of 
any 3 magistrates of that jurisdiction so invaded, the rest 
of the confederates, without any further meeting or expos- 
tulation, shall forthwith send aid to the confederate in 
danger, but in different proportions; namely, the Massa- 
chusetts an hundred men sufficiently armed and provided 
for such a service and journey, and each of the rest, forty- 
five so armed and provided, or any lesser number, if less be 
required according to this proportion. But if such confed- 

21 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

erate in danger may be supplied by their next confederates, 
not exceeding the number hereby agreed, they may crave 
help there, and seek no further for the present ; the charge 
to be borne as in this article is expressed, and at the return 
to be victualled and supplied with powder and shot for their 
journey (if there be need) by that jurisdiction which em- 
ployed or sent for them. But none of the jurisdictions to 
exceed these numbers till, by a meeting of the commission- 
ers for this confederation, a greater aid appear necessary. 
And this proportion to continue till upon knowledge of 
greater numbers in each jurisdiction, which shall be brought 
to the next meeting, some other proportion be ordered. But 
in any such case of sending men for present aid, whether 
before or after such order or alteration, it is agreed that 
at the meeting of the commissioners for this confederation, 
the cause of such war or invasion be duly considered ; and if 
it appear that the fault lay in the parties so invaded then 
that jurisdiction or plantation make just satisfaction, both 
to the invaders whom they have injured, and bear all the 
charges of the war themselves, without requiring any allow- 
ance from the rest of the confederates towards the same. 
And further, that if any jurisdiction see any danger of 
invasion approaching, and there be time for a meeting, that 
in such a case 3 magistrates of that jurisdiction may sum- 
mon a meeting at such convenient place as themselves shall 
think meet, to consider and provide against the threatened 
danger, provided when they are met, they may remove to 
what place they please; only whilst any of these four con- 
federates have but three magistrates in their jurisdiction, 
their requests, or summons, from any 2 of them shall be 
accounted of equal force with the 3 mentioned in both the 
clauses of this article, till there be an increase of magis- 
trates there. 

6. It is also agreed that, for the managing and conclud- 
es 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing of all affairs proper, and concerning the whole confed- 
eration, two commissioners shall be chosen by and out of 
each of these 4 jurisdictions: namely, 2 for the Massachu- 
setts, 2 for Plymouth, 2 for Connecticut, and 2 for New 
Haven, being all in Church-fellowship with us, which shall 
bring full power from their several General Courts respec- 
tively to hear, examine, weigh, and determine all affairs of 
war, or peace, leagues, aids, charges, and numbers of men 
for war, division of spoils, and whatsoever is gotten by con- 
quest, receiving of more confederates, or plantations into 
combination with any of the confederates, and all things 
of like nature, which are the proper concomitants or con- 
sequents of such a confederation for amity, offence, and 
defence; not intermeddling with the government of any of 
the jurisdictions, which by the third article is preserved 
entirely to themselves. But if these 8 commissioners when 
they meet shall not all agree yet it [is] concluded that any 
6 of the 8 agreeing shall have power to settle and deter- 
mine the business in question. But if 6 do not agree, that 
then such propositions, with their reasons, so far as they 
have been debated, be sent and referred to the 4 General 
Courts; namely, the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, 
and New Haven; and if at all the said General Courts the 
business so referred be concluded, then to be prosecuted by 
the confederates and all their members. It is further 
agreed that these 8 commissioners shall meet once every 
year, besides extraordinary meetings (according to the fifth 
article,) to consider, treat, and conclude of all affairs be- 
longing to this confederation, which meeting shall ever be 
the first Thursday in September. And that the next meet- 
ing after the date of these presents, which shall be 
accounted the second meeting, shall be at Boston in the 
Massachusetts, the 3. at Hartford, the 4. at New Haven, 
the 5. at Plymouth, and so in course successively, if in the 

23 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

meantime some middle place be not found out and agreed 
on, which may be commodious for all the jurisdictions. 

7. It is further agreed, that at each meeting of these 8 
Commissioners, whether ordinary or extraordinary, they or 
6 of them agreeing as before, may choose their President 
out of themselves whose office and work shall be to take care 
and direct for order and a comely carrying on of all pro- 
ceedings in the present meeting: but he shall be invested 
with no such power or respect, as by which he shall hinder 
the propounding or progress of any business, or any way 
cast the scales otherwise than in the precedent article is 
agreed. 

8. It is also agreed, that the commissioners for this con- 
federation hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or 
extraordinary, as they may have commission or opportunity, 
do endeavor to frame and establish agreements and orders in 
general cases of a civil nature, wherein all the plantations 
are interested, for the preserving of peace among themselves, 
and preventing as much as may be all occasion of war or 
differences with others; as about the free and speedy pas- 
sage of justice, in every jurisdiction, to all the confederates 
equally as to their own ; not receiving those that remove from 
one plantation to another without due certificate; how all 
the jurisdictions may carry it towards the Indians, that they 
neither grow insolent, nor be injured without due satisfac- 
tion, lest war break in upon the confederates through such 
miscarriages. It is also agreed that if any servant run away 
from his master into any other of these confederated juris- 
dictions, that in such case, upon the certificate of one magis- 
trate in the jurisdiction out of which the said servant fled, 
or upon other due proof, the said servant shall be delivered, 
either to his master, or any other that pursues and brings 
such certificate or proof. And that upon the escape of any 
prisoner whatsoever, or fugitive for any criminal cause, 

24 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

whether breaking prison, or getting from the officer, or 
otherwise escaping, upon the certificate of 2 magistrates 
of the jurisdiction out of which the escape is made, that he 
was a prisoner, or such an offender at the time of the escape, 
they magistrates, some of them of that jurisdiction where 
for the present the said prisoner or fugitive abideth, shall 
forthwith grant such a warrant as the case will bear, for 
the apprehending of any such person, and the delivery of 
him into the hands of the officer or other person who 
pursues him. And if there be help required, for the 
safe returning of any such offender, then it shall be 
granted to him that craves the same, he paying the charges 
thereof. 

9. And for that the justest wars may be of dangerous 
consequence, especially to the smaller plantations in these 
United Colonies, it is agreed that neither the Massachusetts, 
Plymouth, Connecticut, nor New Haven, nor any of the 
members of them, shall at any time hereafter begin, under- 
take, or engage themselves, or this confederation, or any 
part thereof in any war whatsoever (sudden exigencies, with 
the necessary consequents thereof excepted, which are also 
to be moderated as much as the case will permit,) without 
the consent and agreement of the forementioned 8 com- 
missioners, or at least 6 of them, as in the sixth article is 
provided. And that no charge be required of any of the 
confederates, in case of a defensive war, till the said com- 
missioners have met, and approved the justice of the war, 
and have agreed upon the sum of money to be levied, which 
sum is then to be paid by the several confederates in pro- 
portion according to the fourth article. 

10. That in extraordinary occasions, when meetings are 
summoned by three magistrates of any jurisdiction, or 2 as 
in the 5. article, if any of the commissioners come not, 
due warning being given or sent, it is agreed that 4 of the 

25 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

commissioners shall have power to direct a war which can- 
not be delayed, and to send for due proportions of men out 
of each jurisdiction, as well as 6 might do if all met; but 
not less than 6 shall determine the justice of the war, or 
allow the demands or bills of charges, or cause any levies 
to be made for the same. 

11. It is further agreed that if any of the confederates 
shall hereafter break any of these present articles, or be any 
other way injurious to any one of the other jurisdictions; 
such breach of agreement or injury shall be duly considered 
and ordered by the commissioners for the other jurisdic- 
tions, that both peace and this present confederation may 
be entirely preserved without violation. 

12. Lastly, this perpetual confederation, and the several 
articles and agreements thereof being read, and seriously 
considered, both by the General Court for the Massachu- 
setts, and by the commissioners for Plymouth, Connecticut, 
and New Haven, were fully allowed and confirmed by three 
of the forenamed confederates, namely, the Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, and New Haven; only the commissioners for 
Plymouth having no commission to conclude, desired respite 
until they might advise with their General Court; where- 
upon it was agreed and concluded by the said Court of the 
Massachusetts, and the commissioners for the other two 
confederates, that, if Plymouth consent, then the whole 
treaty as it stands in these present articles is, and shall 
continue, firm and stable without alteration. But if Plym- 
outh come not in, yet the other three confederates do by 
these presents confirm the whole confederation, and all the 
articles thereof; only in September next when the second 
meeting of the commissioners is to be at Boston, new con- 
sideration may be taken of the 6. article, which concerns 
number of commissioners for meeting and concluding the 
affairs of this confederation to the satisfaction of the 

26 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Court of the Massachusetts, and the commissioners for the 
other 2 confederates, but the rest to stand unquestioned. In 
the testimony whereof, the General Court of the Massa- 
chusetts, by their Secretary, and the commissioners for Con- 
necticut and New Haven, have subscribed these present 
articles this 19- of the third month, commonly called May, 
Anno Dom: 1643. 

At a meeting of the commissioners for the confederation 
held at Boston the 7- of September, it appearing that the 
General Court of New Plymouth and the several townships 
thereof have read, considered, and approved these Articles 
of confederation, as appeareth by commission of their Gen- 
eral Court bearing date the 29- of August, 1643, to Mr. 
Edward Winslow and Mr. William Collier, to ratify and 
confirm the same on their behalf. We therefore, the com- 
missioners for the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
Haven, do also for our several Governments subscribe unto 
them. 

John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts, 

Tho. Dudley, Edwa. Hopkins, 

Geo. Fenwick, Thomas Gregson. 

Theoph. Eaton, 



27 



A Typical Early Indian Treaty 1645 

A Treaty and agreement betwixt the Comissioners for 
the United Colonies of New England on the one part And 
Pessecus Mexanno eldest of Canownacus Sonns Jannemo 
(als) Nenegelett and Wipetamock and others Sagamores 
of the Narrohiggansets and Nyantick Indians on the other 
part made and concluded at Bostone in the Massachusetts 
the xxviith of the sixth month 1645. 

1. A Warr being raised and persecuted by the Narrohig- 
gansets and Nyantick Indians against Uncas Sagamore of 
the Mohegans contrary to former treaties and their expresse 
engagements therein, the English Colonies were first put 
upon charg and inconvenience in sending men for the 
defence of Uncas, then they sent Messengers to the Narro- 
higgansets and Nyantick Sagamores to stay their warr till 
the English according to former covenant and agreement 
had heard their greevances but without successe : And lastly 
were forced to prepare an offensive warr against them. Yet 
the Comissioners before the warr began sent other Messen- 
gers to the Narrohigganset Sagamores to offer them peace 
upon due satisfaccion for what was past and other just 
termes for the future. 

2. Pessecus and Mexanno with other Captaines and Coun- 
sellors of the Narrohiggansets and one Deputie for the 
Nyanticks being come to Bostone, and joyntly affirmeing 
they had comission to treate and conclude not onely for 
the Narrohiggansett but for the Nyantick Indians, and 
engageing themselves one for another were after a large 
debate and conferrence about greevances betwixt them- 
selves and Uncas, and a due Consideracon of former Treat- 
ies and agreements with the English convinced and 

28 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

acknowledged that they had broken their Covenants and 
had thereby not onely endamaged Uncas but had brought 
much charg and trouble upon all the English Colonies which 
they confest were just they should satisfy. 

3. It was agreed betwixt the Comissioners of the United 
Colonies and the foremenconed Sagamores and Nyantick 
Deputie That the said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sag- 
amores should pay or cause to be payd at Boston to the 
Massachusetts Comissioners the full sum of two thousand 
fathome of good white wampum or a third part of 
good black wampum peage in four payments namely five 
hundred fathome within twenty dayes, five hundred fathome 
within foure months, five hundred fathome at or before next 
planting tyme and five hundred within two years next after 
the date of these presents which two thousand fathome the 
Comissioners accept for satisfaccon of former charges 
expended. 

4. The foresaid Sagamores and Deputie on the behalf 
of the Narrohigganset and Nyantick Indians hereby prom- 
ise and covenant that they will upon demaund and proof e 
satisfy and restore unto Uncas the Mohegan Sagamore all 
such Captives whether men weomen or children and all such 
Canoues [canoes] as they or any of their men have taken, 
or as many of their own Canoues in the roome of them full 
as good as they were with full satisfaccon for all such Corne 
as they or any of their men have spoiled or destroyed of his 
or his mens since last planting tyme And the English Comis- 
sioners hereby promise that Uncas shall do the like to them. 

5. Whereas there are sondry difFerrences and greev- 
ances betwixt Narrohigganset and Nyantick Indians and 
Uncas and his men (which in Uncas his absence cannot now 
be determyned) It is hereby agreed that Narrohigganset and 
Nyantick Sagamores either come themselves or send their 
deputies to the next meeting of the Comissioners for the 

29 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Colonies either at New Haven in September 1646 or sooner 
(oopon convenyent warneing if the Comissioners do meete 
sooner) fully instructed to declare and make due proof e 
of their injuries and to submit to the Judgment of the Com- 
issioners for the United Colonies in giveing or receiveing 
satisfaccon, and the said Comissioners (not doubting but 
Uncas will either come himself or send his Deputies in like 
manner furnished) promise to give a full hearing to both 
parties with equall justice without any partial respect 
according to their allegacons [allegations] and promises. 

6. The said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores 
and deputies do hereby promise and covenant to keepe and 
maintayne a firm and perpetual! peace both with all the 
English United Colonies and their Successors and with 
Uncas the Mohegan Sachim and his men with Ussamequin, 
Pomham, Sokaknooco, Cutchamakin, Shoanan, Passacon- 
away, and their companies, who are in friendship with or 
subject to any of the English hereby engaging themselves 
that they will not at any tyme hereafter, disturbe the peace 
of the Countrey, by any assaults, hostile attempts, invasions 
or other injuries, to any of the United Colonies or their 
Successors or to the aforesaid Indians either in their per- 
sons building cattell or goods directly or indirectly, nor 
will they confederate with any other against them, and if 
they know of any Indians or others that conspire or intend 
hurt either against the said English or any Indian subject 
to or in friendship with them, they will without delay 
acquaint and give notice thereof to the English Comis- 
sioners or some of them. 

And if any questions or differences shall at any time 
hereafter arise or grow between them, and Uncas or any 
Indians before menconed, [mentioned] they will according 
to former engagements (which they hereby confirm and 
ratify) first acquaint the English and crave their judg- 

30 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ments and advice therein, and will not attempt or begin any 
warr or hostile invasion till they have liberty and allowance 
from the Comissioners of the United Colonies so to doe. 

7. The said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores 
and Deputie do hereby promise that they will forthwith 
deliver and restore all such Indian fugitives or captives 
which have at any time fled from any of the English, and 
are now liveing or abiding with or amongst them, or give 
due satisfaccon for them to the Comissioners for the Massa- 
chusets, And further that they will (without more delayes) 
pay or cause to be payd an yearely tribute a month before 
Indian harvest every yeare after this at Bostone to the 
English Colonies for all such Peacotts [Pequots] as live 
amongst them according to the former treatie and agree- 
ment made at Hartford 1638 namely one fathome of white 
wampum for every Peacott man, and half a fathome for 
eich Peacott youth and one hand length of wampum for 
eich Peacott man child And if Weekwash Cake refuse to 
pay this tribute for any Peacotts with him the Narrohig- 
ganset Sagamores promise to assist the English against 
him. And they further covenant that they will resigne and 
yielde up the whole Peacott countrey and every part of it 
to the English Colonies, as due to them by Conquest. 

8. The said Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores 
and deputy do hereby promise and covenant that within 
fourteene dayes they will bring and deliver to the Massa- 
chusets Comissioners on behalf of all the Colonies foue 
[four] of their children vizt. Pissacus his eldest sonn, the 
sonn of Tassaquanawitt brother to Pissacus Awashanoe his 
sonn and Ewangesos sonn a Nyantick to be kept (as pledges 
or hostages) by the English till both the foremenconed two 
thousand fathome of wampum be payd at the tymes above 
expressed and the differences betwixt themselves and Uncas 
be heard and ordered, and till these articles of agreement 

31 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

be underwritten at Boston by Jannemo and Wypetock. And 
further they hereby promise and covenant that if at any 
tyme hereafter any of the said Children shall make escape 
or be conveyed away from the English before the premisses 
be fully accomplished, they will either bring back and 
deliver to the Massachusets Comissioners the same children, 
or if they be not to be found, such and so many other chil- 
dren to be chosen by the Comissioners for the United Col- 
onies or their assignes, and that within twenty dayes after 
demaund, and in the mean tyme until the said foure children 
be delivered as hostages the Narrohigganset and Nyantick 
Sagamores and Deputie do freely and of their owne accord 
leave with the Massachusets Comissioners as pledges for 
present securitie foure Indians namely Witowash Pomamse 
Jawassoe Waugwamino, who also freely consent and offer 
themselves to stay as pledges, till the said Children be 
brought and delivered as abovesaid. 

9. The Comissioners for the United Colonies do hereby 
promise and agree That at the charg of the United Colonies 
the foure Indians now left as pledges shalbe provided for, 
and that the foure children to be brought and delivered as 
hostages, shalbe kept and mayntained at the same charg, 
that they will require Uncas and his men with all the other 
Indian Sagamores beforenamed to forbeare all acts of hos- 
tility against the Narrohigganset and Nyantick Indians for 
the future. And further all the premisses being duly 
observed and kept by the Narrohigganset and Nyantick In- 
dians and their company ; they will at the end of two years 
restore the said children delivered as hostages and retayne 
a firme peace with the Narrohigganset and Nyantick In- 
dians and their Successors. 

10. It is fully agreed by and betwixt the said parties 
that if any hostile attempt be made while this treaty is in 
hand or before notice of this agreement (to stay former 

32 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

preparacons and Direcons) can be given, such attempts 
and the consequents thereof shall on neither part be ac- 
counted a vyolacon [violation] of this treaty nor a breach 
of the peace here made and concluded. 

11. The Narrohigganset and Nyantick Sagamores and 
Deputie hereby agree and covenant to and with the Comis- 
sioners of the United Colonies that henceforward they will 
neither give graunt sell nor in any manner alienate any part 
of their Countrey, nor any parcell of land therein either to 
any of the English or others without consent or allowance 
of the said Comissioners. 

12. Lastly they promise that if any Peacott or other 
be found and discovered amongst them who hath in tyme 
of peace murthered any of the English, he or they shalbe 
delivered to just punishment. In witnes whereof the parties 
abovenamed have interchaungably subscribed these presents 
the day and yeare above written. 

The marke — of Pessecus 

The marke of — Aumsaaquen the Nyantick Deputy 

Abdas — marke 

The marke — of Pommush 

Cutchamakins — marke 

The marke of — Weekesanno 

The marke of — Wittowash 

[Totem signs attached to each signature.] 



38 



Declaration of Rights 1765 






The members of this congress, sincerely devoted, with 
the warmest sentiments of affection and duty to his maj- 
esty's person and government, inviolably attached to the 
present happy establishment of the protestant succession, 
and with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present 
and impending misfortunes of the British colonies on this 
continent; having considered as maturely as time will 
permit, the circumstances of the said colonies, esteem it our 
indispensable duty to make the following declarations of 
our humble opinion, respecting the most essential rights 
and liberties of the colonists, and of the grievances under 
which they labour, by reason of several late acts of parlia- 
ment. 

1. That his majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the 
same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is 
owing from his subj ects born within the realm, and all due 
subordination to that august body the parliament of Great 
Britain. 

2. That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonies, are 
entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural 
born subjects, within the kingdom of Great Britain. 

3. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a 
people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no 
taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given 
personally, or by their representatives. 

4. That the people of these colonies are not, and, from 
their local circumstances, cannot be, represented in the 
House of Commons in Great Britain. 

5. That the only representatives of the people of these 
colonies, are persons chosen therein by themselves; and that 

34 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed 
on them, but by their respective legislatures. 

6. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts of the 
people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the prin- 
ciples and spirit of the British constitution, for the people 
of Great Britain to grant to his majesty the property of 
the colonists. 

7. That trial by jury, is the inherent and invaluable right 
of every British subject in these colonies. 

8. That the late act of parliament, entitled, an act for 
granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other 
duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, 
&c, by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies, 
and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the 
jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty beyond its ancient 
limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and 
liberties of the colonists. 

9. That the duties imposed by several late acts of parlia- 
ment, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, 
will be extremely burdensome and grievous; and from the 
scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely imprac- 
ticable. 

10. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ulti- 
mately center in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures 
which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually 
contribute very largely to all supplies granted there to the 
crown. 

11. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of 
parliament on the trade of these colonies, will render them 
unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain. 

12. That the increase, prosperity and happiness of these 
colonies, depend on the full and free enjoyments of their 
rights and liberties, and an intercourse with Great Britain 
mutually affectionate and advantageous. 

35 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

13. That it is the right of the British subjects in these 
colonies, to petition the king, or either house of parliament. 

Lastly, That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies, 
to the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to 
themselves, to endeavour by a loyal and dutiful address to 
his majesty, and humble applications to both houses of par- 
liament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and 
applying certain stamp duties, of all clauses of any other 
acts of parliament, whereby the jurisdiction of the ad- 
miralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other late acts 
for the restriction of American commerce. 



Declaration and Resolves of the First Conti- 
nental Congress 17 7 A 

Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British par- 
liament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of 
America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some 
acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under 
various pretences, but in fact for the purpose of raising 
a revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these 
colonies, established a board of commissioners, with uncon- 
stitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts 
of admiralty, not only for collecting the said duties, but for 
the trial of causes merely arising within the body of a 
county. 

And whereas, in consequence of other statutes, judges, 
who before held only estates at will in their offices, have 
been made dependant on the crown alone for their salaries, 
and standing armies kept in times of peace: And whereas 
it has lately been resolved in parliament, that by force of 
a statute, made in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King 
Henry the eighth, colonists may be transported to England, 
and tried there upon accusations for treasons, and mispri- 
sions, or concealments of treasons committed in the colonies, 
and by a late statute, such trials have been directed in cases 
therein mentioned: 

And whereas, in the last session of parliament, three 
statutes were made; one entitled, " An act to discontinue, in 
such manner and for such time as are therein mentioned, 
the landing and discharging, lading, or shipping of goods, 
wares and merchandise, at the town, and within the harbour 
of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts-Bay in North- 
America; " another entitled, " An act for the better regulat- 

37 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing the government of the province of Massachusetts-Bay 
in New England; " and another entitled, " An act for the 
impartial administration of justice, in the cases of per- 
sons questioned for any act done by them in the execution 
of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults, 
in the province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New Eng- 
land; " and another statute was then made, " for making 
more effectual provision for the government of the province 
of Quebec, &c." All which statutes are impolitic, unjust, 
and cruel, as well as unconstitutional, and most dangerous 
and destructive of American rights: 

And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved, 
contrary to the rights of the people, when they attempted 
to deliberate on grievances; and their dutiful, humble, 
loyal and reasonable petitions to the crown for redress, have 
been repeatedly treated with contempt, by his majesty's 
ministers of state: 

The good people of the several colonies of New-Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence 
Plantations, Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, Mary- 
land, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South-Carolina, justly 
alarmed at these arbitrary proceedings of parliament and 
administration, have severally elected, constituted, and 
appointed deputies to meet, and sit in General Congress, in 
the city of Philadelphia, in order to obtain such establish- 
ment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, may not 
be subverted: Whereupon the deputies so appointed being 
now assembled, in a full and free representation of these 
colonies, taking into their most serious consideration, the 
best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first 
place, as Englishmen, their ancestors in like cases have 
usually done, for asserting and vindicating their rights and 
liberties, DECLARE, 

38 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North- 
America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of 
the English constitution, and the several charters or com- 
pacts, have the following RIGHTS: 

Resolved, N. CD. 1. That they are entitled to life, lib- 
erty and property, and they have never ceded to any sov- 
ereign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without 
their consent. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 2. That our ancestors, who first set- 
tled these colonies, were at the time of their emigration 
from the mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, 
and immunities of free and natural-born subjects, within 
the realm of England. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 3. That by such emigration they 
by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those 
rights, but that they were, and their descendants now are, 
entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all such of them, 
as their local and other circumstances enable them to ex- 
ercise and enjoy. 

Resolved, 4. That the foundation of English liberty, 
and of all free government, is a right in the people to par- 
ticipate in their legislative council : and as the English colo- 
nists are not represented, and from their local and other 
circumstances, cannot properly be represented in the British 
parliament, they are entitled to a free and exclusive power 
of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, where 
their right of representation can alone be preserved, in all 
cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the 
negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has been here- 
tofore used and accustomed. But, from the necessity of 
the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both coun- 
tries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts 
of the British parliament, as are bona fide, restrained to 
the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose 

39 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire 
to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its 
respective members; excluding every idea of taxation in- 
ternal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in 
America, without their consent. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 5. That the respective colonies are 
entitled to the common law of England, and more especially 
to the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their 
peers of the vicinage, according to the course of that law. 

Resolved, 6. That they are entitled to the benefit of such 
of the English statutes, as existed at the time of their col- 
onization; and which they have, by experience, respectively 
found to be applicable to their several local and other cir- 
cumstances. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 7. That these, his majesty's col- 
onies, are likewise entitled to all the immunities and privi- 
leges granted and confirmed to them by royal charters, or 
secured by their several codes of provincial laws. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 8. That they have a right peaceably 
to assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the 
king; and that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, 
and commitments for the same, are illegal. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 9- That the keeping a standing army 
in these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of 
the legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, 
is against law. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 10. It is indispensably necessary 
to good government, and rendered essential by the English 
constitution, that the constituent branches of the legislature 
be independent of each other; that, therefore, the exercise 
of legislative power in several colonies, by a council ap- 
pointed, during pleasure, by the crown, is unconstitutional, 
dangerous and destructive to the freedom of American 
legislation. 

40 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf 
of themselves, and their constituents, do claim, demand, 
and insist on, as their indubitable rights and liberties; 
which cannot be legally taken from them, altered or 
abridged by any power whatever, without their own consent, 
by their representatives in their several provincial legis- 
latures. 

In the course of our inquiry, we find many infringements 
and violations of the foregoing rights, which, from an 
ardent desire, that harmony and mutual intercourse of 
affection and interest may be restored, we pass over for 
the present, and proceed to state such acts and measures 
as have been adopted since the last war, which demonstrate 
a system formed to enslave America. 

Resolved, N. C. D. That the following acts of parlia- 
ment are infringements and violations of the rights of the 
colonists; and that the repeal of them is essentially neces- 
sary, in order to restore harmony between Great-Britain 
and the American colonies, viz. 

The several acts of 4 Geo. III. ch. 15. and ch. 34. — 
5 Geo. III. ch. 25.-6 Geo. III. ch. 52.-7 Geo. III. ch. 41. 
and ch. 46. — 8 Geo. III. ch. 22. which impose duties for the 
purpose of raising a revenue in America, extend the power 
of the admiralty courts beyond their ancient limits, deprive 
the American subject of trial by jury, authorize the judges' 
certificate to indemnify the prosecutor from damages, that 
he might otherwise be liable to, requiring oppressive secur- 
ity from a claimant of ships and goods seized, before he 
shall be allowed to defend his property, and are subversive 
of American rights. 

Also 12 Geo. III. ch. 24. entitled, " An act for the better 
securing his majesty's dock-yards, magazines, ships, am- 
munition, and stores," which declares a new offence in 
America, and deprives the American subject of a constitu- 

41 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

tional trial by jury of the vicinage, by authorizing the trial 
of any person, charged with the committing any offence 
described in the said act, out of the realm, to be indicted and 
tried for the same in any shire or county within the realm. 

Also the three acts passed in the last session of parlia- 
ment, for stopping the port and blocking up the harbour of 
Boston, for altering the charter and government of Massa- 
chusetts-Bay, and that which is entitled, " An act for the 
better administration of justice, &c." 

Also the act passed in the same session for establishing 
the Roman Catholic religion, in the province of Quebec, 
abolishing the equitable system of English laws, and erect- 
ing a tyranny there, to the great danger, (from so total a 
dissimilarity of religion, law and government) of the neigh- 
bouring British colonies, by the assistance of whose blood 
and treasure the said country was conquered from France. 

Also the act passed in the same session, for the better 
providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his 
majesty's service, in North- America. 

Also, that the keeping a standing army in several of 
these colonies, in time of peace, without the consent of the 
legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is 
against law. 

To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot 
submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain 
will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which 
both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for 
the present, only resolved to pursue the following peace- 
able measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non- 
consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association. 

2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain, 
and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 

3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to 
resolutions already entered into. 

42 



Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of 
Taking up Arms 1775 

A declaration by the Representatives of the United Col- 
onies of North-America, now met in Congress at Phila- 
delphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of them tak- 
ing up arms. 

If it was possible for men, who exercise their reason to 
believe, that the divine Author of our existence intended a 
part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and 
an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite 
goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination 
never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, 
the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from 
the parliament of Great-Britain some evidence, that this 
dreadful authority over them, has been granted to that 
body. But a reverence for our great Creator, principles of 
humanity, and the dictates of common sense, must convince 
all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was 
instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to 
be administered for the attainment of that end. The legis- 
lature of Great-Britain, however, stimulated by an inor- 
dinate passion for a power not only unjustifiable, but which 
they know to be peculiarly reprobated by the very constitu- 
tion of that kingdom, and desperate of success in any mode 
of contest, where regard should be had to truth, law, or 
right, have at length, deserting those, attempted to effect 
their cruel and impolitic purpose of enslaving these colonies 
by violence, and have thereby rendered it necessary for us 
to close with their last appeal from reason to arms. — Yet, 
however blinded that assembly may be, by their intemperate 

43 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

rage for unlimited domination, so to slight justice and the 
opinion of mankind, we esteem ourselves bound by obliga- 
tions of respect to the rest of the world, to make known 
the justice of our cause. 

Our forefathers, inhabitants of the island of Great- 
Britain, left their native land, to seek on these shores a resi- 
dence for civil and religious freedom. At the expense of 
their blood, at the hazard of their fortunes, without the least 
charge to the country from which they removed, by unceas- 
ing labour, and an unconquerable spirit, they effected settle- 
ments in the distant and inhospitable wilds of America, 
then filled with numerous and warlike nations of barbarians. 
Societies or governments, vested with perfect legislatures, 
were formed under charters from the crown, and an har- 
monious intercourse was established between the colonies 
and the kingdom from which they derived their origin. 
The mutual benefits of this union became in a short time so 
extraordinary, as to excite astonishment. It is universally 
confessed, that the amazing increase of the wealth, 
strength, and navigation of the realm, arose from this 
source; and the minister, who so wisely and successfully 
directed the measures of Great-Britain in the late war, 
publicly declared, that these colonies enabled her to triumph 
over her enemies. — Towards the conclusion of that war, 
it pleased our sovereign to make a change in his counsels. — 
From that fatal moment, the affairs of the British empire 
began to fall into confusion, and gradually sliding from the 
summit of glorious prosperity, to which they had been ad- 
vanced by the virtues and abilities of one man, are at length 
distracted by the convulsions, that now shake it to its deep- 
est foundations. The new ministry finding the brave foes 
of Britain, though frequently defeated, yet still contending, 
took up the unfortunate idea of granting them a hasty 
peace, and of then subduing her faithful friends. 

44 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

These devoted colonies were judged to be in such a state, 
as to present victories without bloodshed, and all the easy 
emoluments of statuteable plunder. — The uninterrupted 
tenor of their peaceable and respectful behaviour from the 
beginning of colonization, their dutiful, zealous, and 
useful services during the war, though so recently and 
amply acknowleged in the most honourable manner by his 
majesty, by the late king, and by parliament, could not save 
them from the meditated innovations. — Parliament was 
influenced to adopt the pernicious project, and assuming 
a new power over them, have in the course of eleven years, 
given such decisive specimens of the spirit and consequences 
attending this power, as to leave no doubt concerning the 
effects of acquiescence under it. They have undertaken to 
give and grant our money without our consent, though we 
have ever exercised an exclusive right to dispose of our own 
property; statutes have been passed for extending the juris- 
diction of courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty beyond 
their ancient limits ; for depriving us of the accustomed and 
inestimable privilege of trial by jury, in cases affecting 
both life and property; for suspending the legislature of 
one of the colonies; for interdicting all commerce to the 
capital of another; and for altering fundamentally the 
form of government established by charter, and secured by 
acts of its own legislature solemnly confirmed by the crown ; 
for exempting the " murderers " of colonists from legal 
trial, and in effect, from punishment; for erecting in a 
neighbouring province, acquired by the joint arms of Great- 
Britain and America, a despotism dangerous to our very exist- 
ence; and for quartering soldiers upon the colonists in time 
of profound peace. It has also been resolved in parliament, 
that colonists charged with committing certain offences, 
shall be transported to England to be tried. 

But why should we enumerate our injuries in detail? By 

45 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

one statute it is declared, that parliament can " of right 
make laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever." What is to 
defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power ? Not 
a single man of those who assume it, is chosen by us ; or is 
subject to our controul or influence; but, on the contrary, 
they are all of them exempt from the operation of such 
laws, and an American revenue, if not diverted from the 
ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would actually 
lighten their own burdens in proportion, as they increase 
ours. We saw the misery to which such despotism would 
reduce us. We for ten years incessantly and ineffectually 
besieged the throne as supplicants ; we reasoned, we remon- 
strated with parliament, in the most mild and decent lan- 
guage. 

Administration, sensible that we should regard these 
oppressive measures as freemen ought to do, sent over fleets 
and armies to enforce them. The indignation of the Amer- 
icans was roused, it is true; but it was the indignation of a 
virtuous, loyal, and affectionate people. A Congress of 
delegates from the United Colonies was assembled at Phila- 
delphia, on the fifth day of last September. We resolved 
again to offer an humble and dutiful petition to the king, 
and also addressed our fellow-subjects of Great-Britain. 
We have pursued every temperate, every respectful meas- 
ure: we have even proceeded to break off our commercial 
intercourse with our fellow-subjects, as the last peaceable 
admonition, that our attachment to no nation upon earth 
should supplant our attachment to liberty. — This, we flat- 
tered ourselves, was the ultimate step of the controversy: 
but subsequent events have shewn, how vain was this hope 
of finding moderation in our enemies. 

Several threatening expressions against the colonies were 
inserted in his majesty's speech; our petition, though we 
were told that it was a decent one, and that his majesty had 

46 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

been pleased to receive it graciously, and to promise laying 
it before his parliament, was huddled into both houses 
among a bundle of American papers, and there neglected. 
The lords and commons in their address, in the month of 
February, said, that " a rebellion at that time actually 
existed within the province of Massachusetts-Bay; and 
that those concerned in it, had been countenanced and 
encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements, 
entered into by his majesty's subjects in several of the 
other colonies; and therefore they besought his majesty, 
that he would take the most effectual measures to enforce 
due obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme 
legislature." Soon after, the commercial intercourse of 
whole colonies, with foreign countries, and with each other, 
was cut off by an act of parliament; by another, several of 
them were entirely prohibited from the fisheries in the seas 
near their coasts, on which they always depended for their 
sustenance; and large reinforcements of ships and troops 
were immediately sent over to general Gage. 

Fruitless were all the entreaties, arguments, and elo- 
quence of an illustrious band of the most distinguished 
peers, and commoners, who nobly and strenuously asserted 
the justice of our cause, to stay, or even to mitigate the 
heedless fury with which these accumulated and unexampled 
outrages were hurried on. — Equally fruitless was the inter- 
ference of the city of London, of Bristol, and many other 
respectable towns in our favor. Parliament adopted an 
insidious manoeuvre calculated to divide us, to establish a 
perpetual auction of taxations where colony should bid 
against colony, all of them uninformed what ransom would 
redeem their lives ; and thus to extort from us, at the point 
of the bayonet, the unknown sums that should be sufficient 
to gratify, if possible to gratify, ministerial rapacity, with 
the miserable indulgence left to us of raising, in our own 

47 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

mode, the prescribed tribute. What terms more rigid and 
humiliating could have been dictated by remorseless victors 
to conquered enemies? in our circumstances to accept them, 
would be to deserve them. 

Soon after the intelligence of these proceedings arrived 
on this continent, general Gage, who in the course of the 
last year had taken possession of the town of Boston, in the 
province of Massachusetts-Bay, and still occupied it as a 
garrison, on the 19th day of April, sent out from that place 
a large detachment of his army, who made an unprovoked 
assault on the inhabitants of the said province, at the town 
of Lexington, as appears by the affidavits of a great num- 
ber of persons, some of whom were officers and soldiers of 
that detachment, murdered eight of the inhabitants, and 
wounded many others. From thence the troops proceeded 
in warlike array to the town of Concord, where they set 
upon another party of the inhabitants of the same province, 
killing several and wounding more, until compelled to 
retreat by the country people suddenly assembled to repel 
this cruel aggression. Hostilities, thus commenced by the 
British troops, have been since prosecuted by them without 
regard to faith or reputation. — The inhabitants of Boston 
being confined within that town by the general their gov- 
ernor, and having, in order to procure their dismission, 
entered into a treaty with him, it was stipulated that the 
said inhabitants having deposited their arms with their own 
magistrates, should have liberty to depart, taking with them 
their other effects. They accordingly delivered up their 
arms, but in open violation of honour, in defiance of the 
obligation of treaties, which even savage nations esteemed 
sacred, the governor ordered the arms deposited as afore- 
said, that they might be preserved for their owners, to be 
seized by a body of soldiers; detained the greatest part of 
the inhabitants in the town, and compelled the few who 

48 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

were permitted to retire, to leave their most valuable effects 
behind. 

By this perfidy wives are separated from their husbands, 
children from their parents, the aged and the sick from 
their relations and friends, who wish to attend and comfort 
them; and those who have been used to live in plenty and 
even elegance, are reduced to deplorable distress. 

The general, further emulating his ministerial masters, 
by a proclamation bearing date on the 12th day of June, 
after venting the grossest falsehoods and calumnies against 
the good people of these colonies, proceeds to " declare 
them all, either by name or description, to be rebels and 
traitors, to supersede the course of the common law, and 
instead thereof to publish and order the use and exercise of 
the law martial." — His troops have butchered our country- 
men, have wantonly burnt Charlestown, besides a consider- 
able number of houses in other places ; our ships and vessels 
are seized; the necessary supplies of provisions are inter- 
cepted, and he is exerting his utmost power to spread 
destruction and devastation around him. 

We have received certain intelligence, that general Carle- 
ton, the governor of Canada, is instigating the people of 
that province and the Indians to fall upon us ; and we have 
but too much reason to apprehend, that schemes have been 
formed to excite domestic enemies against us. In brief, a 
part of these colonies now feel, and all of them are sure 
of feeling, as far as the vengeance of administration can 
inflict them, the complicated calamities of fire, sword, and 
famine. We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an 
unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated minis- 
ters, or resistance by force. — The latter is our choice. — We 
have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so 
dreadful as voluntary slavery. — Honour, justice, and 
humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which 

49 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our inno- 
cent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot 
endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding gener- 
ations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, 
if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. 

Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal 
resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is 
undoubtedly attainable. We gratefully acknowledge, as 
signal instances of the Divine favor towards us, that his 
Providence would not permit us to be called into this 
severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present 
strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, 
and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With 
hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most 
solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exert- 
ing the utmost energy of those powers, which our benefi- 
cent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we 
have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in 
defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and per- 
severance, employ for the preservation of our liberties ; being 
with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than live 
slaves. 

Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our 
friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we 
assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which 
has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which 
we sincerely wish to see restored. — Necessity has not yet 
driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to 
excite any other nation to war against them. — We have not 
raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from 
Great-Britain, and establishing independent states. We 
fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind 
the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unpro- 
voked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of 

50 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and 
yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death. 

In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is 
our birth-right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late 
violation of it — for the protection of our property, acquired 
solely by the honest industry of our fore-fathers and our- 
selves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up 
arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease 
on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being 
renewed shall be removed, and not before. 

With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme 
and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most 
devoutly implore his divine goodness to protect us happily 
through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to 
reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve 
the empire from the calamities of civil war. 



51 



The Declaration of Independence 1776 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have 
connected them with another, and to assume among the 
Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which 
the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a 
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, 
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure 
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriv- 
ing their just powers from the consent of the governed, 
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destruc- 
tive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or 
to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its 
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in 
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that 
Governments long established should not be changed for 
light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience 
hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while 
evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing 
the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same 
Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Des- 
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such 
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future 
security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Col- 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

onies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them 
to alter their former Systems of Government. The history 
of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the 
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommoda- 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a 
right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unu- 
sual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of 
their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for 
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of 
the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative 
Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the 
People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in 
the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from 
without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Natural- 
ization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage 
their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new 
Appropriations of Lands. 

53 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by 
refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary 
Powers. 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for 
the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of 
their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent 
hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out 
their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing 
Armies without the Consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of 
and superior to the Civil Power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by 
our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended 
legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us: 

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment 
for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabi- 
tants of these States: 

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: 

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent: 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial 
by Jury: 

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences: 

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a 
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it 
at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the 
same absolute rule into these Colonies : 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valu- 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

able Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our 
Governments : 

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring them- 
selves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases 
whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out 
of his Protection and waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and 
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & 
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and 
totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on 
the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become 
the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall 
themselves by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and 
has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, 
the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, 
is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and 
conditions. 

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned 
for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A 
Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People. 

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of 
attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have 
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we 

55 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to 
disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably inter- 
rupt our connections and correspondence. They too have 
been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We 
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces 
our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of man- 
kind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States 
of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our 
intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good 
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, 
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be 
Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from 
all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, 
is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and 
Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, con- 
clude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and 
to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States 
may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, 
with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, 
we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes 
and our sacred Flonor. 

John Hancock. 

New Hampshire 

Josiah Bartlett Matthew Thornton 

Wm. Whipple 

Massachusetts Bay 

Saml. Adams Robt. Treat Paine 

John Adams Elbridge Gerry 

56 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Rhode Island 
Step. Hopkins William Ellery 



Connecticut 



Roger Sherman 
Sam'el Huntington 



Wm. Williams 
Oliver Wolcott 



New York 



Wm. Floyd 
Phil. Livingston 



Richd. Stockton 
Jno. Witherspoon 
Fras. Hopkinson 



Robt. Morris 
Benjamin Rush 
Benja. Franklin 
John Morton 
Geo. Clymer 



Cesar Rodney 
Geo. Read 



Samuel Chase 
Wm. Paca 



Frans. Lewis 
Lewis Morris 



New Jersey 



John Hart 
Abra. Clark 



Pennsylvania 



Jas. Smith 
Geo. Taylor 
James Wilson 
Geo. Ross 



Delaware 

Tho. M'Kean 



Maryland 



Thos. Stone 
Charles Carroll of 
rollton 

57 



Car- 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Virginia 

George Wythe Thos. Nelson, jr. 

Richard Henry Lee Francis Lightfoot Lee 

Th. Jefferson Carter Braxton 
Benja. Harrison 

North Carolina 

Wm. Hooper John Penn 

Joseph Hewes 

South Carolina 

Edward Rutledge Thomas Lynch, junr 

Thos. Heyward, junr Arthur Middleton, 

Georgia 

Button Gwinnett Geo. Walton 

Lyman Hall 



58 



Articles of Confederation 1777 

To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the under- 
signed Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send 
greeting. 

Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November 
in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
Seventyseven, and in the Second Year of the Independence 
of America agree to certain articles of Confederation and 
perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire, 
Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Planta- 
tions, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and 
Georgia in the Words following, viz. 

" Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between 
the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode- 
island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, 
New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia. 

Article I. The stile of this confederacy shall be " The 
United States of America." 

Article II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom 
and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, 
which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the 
United States, in Congress assembled. 

Article III. The said States hereby severally enter 
into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their 
common defence, the security of their liberties, and their 
mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist 
each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon 
them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, 
trade, or any other pretence whatever. 

59 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual 
friendship and intercourse among the people of the differ- 
ent States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of 
these States, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice 
excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities 
of free citizens in the several States ; and the people of each 
State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any 
other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of 
trade and commerce, subj ect to the same duties, impositions 
and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof respectively, pro- 
vided that such restrictions shall not extend so far as to 
prevent the removal of property imported into any State, to 
any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant; pro- 
vided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be 
laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or 
either of them. 

If any Person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, 
or other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from 
justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall 
upon demand of the Governor or Executive power, of the 
State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the 
State having jurisdiction of his offence. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States 
to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts 
and magistrates of every other State. 

Article V. For the more convenient management of the 
general interest of the United States, delegates shall be 
annually appointed in such manner as the legislature of 
each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first 
Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved 
to each State, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any 
time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for 
the remainder of the year. 

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than 

60 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

two, nor by more than seven members; and no person shall 
be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in 
any term of six years; nor shall any person, being a dele- 
gate, be capable of holding any office under the United 
States, for which he, or another for his benefit receives any 
salary, fees or emolument of any kind. 

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting 
of the States, and while they act as members of the com- 
mittee of the States. 

In determining questions in the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled, each State shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be 
impeached or questioned in any court, or place out of Con- 
gress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in 
their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during the 
time of their going to and from, and attendance on Con- 
gress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 

Article VI. No State without the consent of the United 
States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, 
or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, 
agreement, alliance or treaty with any king, prince or state ; 
nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust 
under the United States, or any of them, accept of any 
present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from 
any king, prince or foreign state; nor shall the United 
States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any 
title of nobility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, con- 
federation or alliance whatever between them, without the 
consent of the United States in Congress assembled, speci- 
fying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be 
entered into, and how long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may inter- 
fere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the 

61 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

United States in Congress assembled, with any king, prince 
or state, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by 
Congress, to the courts of France and Spain. 

No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by 
any State, except such number only, as shall be deemed 
necessary by the United States in Congress assembled, for 
the defence of such State, or its trade; nor shall any body 
of forces be kept up by any State, in time of peace, except 
such number only, as in the judgment of the United States, 
in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison 
the forts necessary for the defence of such State ; but every 
State shall always keep up a well regulated and disciplined 
militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide 
and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due 
number of field pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of 
arms, ammunition and camp equipage. 

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of 
the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State 
be actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received cer- 
tain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of 
Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so imminent 
as not to admit of a delay, till the United States in Congress 
assembled can be consulted: nor shall any State grant com- 
missions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque 
or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the 
United States in Congress assembled, and then only against 
the kingdom or state and the subjects thereof, against which 
war has been so declared, and under such regulations as shall 
be established by the United States in Congress assembled, 
unless such State be infested by pirates, in which case 
vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept 
so long as the danger shall continue, or until the United 
States in Congress assembled shall determine otherwise. 

Article VII. When land-forces are raised by any State 

62 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

for the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of 
colonel, shall be appointed by the Legislature of each State 
respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such 
manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be 
filled up by the State which first made the appointment. 

Article VIII. All charges of war, and all other 
expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or 
general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Con- 
gress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treas- 
ury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in pro- 
portion to the value of all land within each State, granted 
to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the build- 
ings and improvements thereon shall be estimated accord- 
ing to such mode as the United States in Congress assem- 
bled, shall from time to time direct and appoint. 

The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and 
levied by the authority and direction of the Legislatures of 
the several States within the time agreed upon by the United 
States in Congress assembled. 

Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, 
shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of deter- 
mining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in 
the sixth article — of sending and receiving ambassadors — 
entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty 
of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power 
of the respective States shall be restrained from imposing 
such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people 
are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or 
importation of any species of goods or commodities what- 
soever — of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what 
captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner 
prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the 
United States shall be divided or appropriated — of granting 
letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace — appointing 

63 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on 
the high seas and establishing courts for receiving and 
determining finally appeals in all cases of captures, pro- 
vided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a 
judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be 
the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now 
subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more 
States concerning boundary., jurisdiction or any other cause 
whatever; which authority shall always be exercised in the 
manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive 
authority or lawful agent of any State in controversy 
with another shall present a petition to Congress, 
stating the matter in question and praying for a hearing, 
notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the 
legislative or executive authority of the other State in con- 
troversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the 
parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to 
appoint by joint consent, commissioners or judges to con- 
stitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in 
question: but if they cannot agree, Congress shall name 
three persons out of each of the United States, and from 
the list of such persons each party shall alternately strike 
out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall 
be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number not less than 
seven, nor more than nine names as Congress shall direct, 
shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by lot, and 
the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five of 
them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally 
determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the 
judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the deter- 
mination: and if either party shall neglect to attend at the 
day appointed, without showing reasons, which Congress 
shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to strike, 

64 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out 
of each State, and the Secretary of Congress shall strike 
in behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judg- 
ment and sentence of the court to be appointed, in the 
manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive; 
and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the 
authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim 
or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce 
sentence, or judgment, which shall in like manner be final 
and decisive, the judgment or sentence and other pro- 
ceedings being in either case transmitted to Congress, and 
lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the 
parties concerned : provided that every commissioner, before 
he sits in judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by 
one of the judges of the supreme or superior court of the 
State, where the cause shall be tried, " well and truly to 
hear and determine the matter in question, according to the 
best of his judgment, without favour, affection or hope of 
reward:" provided also that no State shall be deprived of 
territory for the benefit of the United States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil 
claimed under different grants of two or more States, whose 
jurisdiction as they may respect such lands, and the States 
which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or 
either of them being at the same time claimed to have orig- 
inated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall 
on the petition of either party to the Congress of the United 
States, be finally determined as near as may be in the same 
manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes 
respecting territorial jurisdiction between different States. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also have 
the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the 
alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or 
by that of the respective States — fixing the standard of 

65 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

weights and measures throughout the United States — regu- 
lating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, 
not members of any of the States, provided that the legis- 
lative right of any State within its own limits be not 
infringed or violated — establishing and regulating post- 
offices from one State to another, throughout all the United 
States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing 
thro' the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses 
of the said office — appointing all officers of the land forces, 
in the service of the United States, excepting regimental 
officers — appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and 
commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the 
United States — making rules for the government and regu- 
lation of the said land and naval forces, and directing their 
operations. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall have 
authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Con- 
gress, to be denominated " a Committee of the States," 
and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to 
appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be 
necessary for managing the general affairs of the United 
States under their direction — to appoint one of their number 
to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in 
the office of president more than one year in any term of 
three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money to 
be raised for the service of the United States, and to appro- 
priate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses 
— to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the 
United States, transmitting every half year to the respec- 
tive States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or 
emitted, — to build and equip a navy — to agree upon the 
number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each 
State for its, quota, in proportion to the number of white 
inhabitants in such State; which requisition shall be bind- 

66 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing, and thereupon the Legislature of each State shall 
appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and cloath, 
arm and equip them in a soldier like manner, at the expense 
of the United States; and the officers and men so cloathed, 
armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and 
within the time agreed on by the United States in Congress 
assembled: but if the United States in Congress assembled 
shall, on consideration of circumstances judge proper that 
any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller 
number than its quota, and that any other State should raise 
a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra 
number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and 
equipped in the same as the quota of such State, unless the 
legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number 
cannot be safely spared outside of the same, in which case 
they shall raise, officer, cloath, arm and equip as many of 
such extra number as they judge can be safely spared. 
And the officers and men so cloathed, armed and equipped, 
shall march to the place appointed, and within the time 
agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall nevei 
engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in 
time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor 
coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain 
the sums and expenses necessary for the defence and wel- 
fare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, 
nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor 
appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels 
of war, to be built or purchased, or the number of land or 
sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in chief of 
the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same : nor 
shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning 
from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a 
majority of the United States in Congress assembled. 

67 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

The Congress of the United States shall have power to 
adj ourn to any time within the year, and to any place within 
the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for 
a longer duration than the space of six months, and shall 
publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except 
such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances or military 
operations, as in their judgment require secresy; and the 
yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on any ques- 
tion shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired by 
any delegate ; and the delegates of a State, or any of them, 
at his or their request shall be furnished with a transcript 
of the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted, 
to lay before the Legislatures of the several States. 

Article X. The committee of the States, or any nine of 
them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Con- 
gress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States 
in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall 
from time to time think expedient to vest them with; pro- 
vided that no power be delegated to the said committee, 
for the exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, 
the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States 
assembled is requisite. 

Article XL Canada acceding to this confederation, and 
joining in the measures of the United States, shall be 
admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this 
Union : but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, 
unless such admission be agreed to by nine States. 

Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies bor- 
rowed and debts contracted by, or under the authority of 
Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in 
pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed 
and considered as a charge against the United States, for 
payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States, 
and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

68 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Article XIII. Every State shall abide by the deter- 
minations of the United States in Congress assembled, on 
all questions which by this confederation are submitted to 
them. And the articles of this confederation shall be invio- 
lably observed by every State, and the Union shall be 
perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter 
be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed 
to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards 
confirmed by the Legislatures of every State. 

And whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the 
World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respec- 
tively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize 
us to ratify the said articles of confederation and perpetual 
union. Know ye that we the undersigned delegates, by 
virtue of the power and authority to us given for that pur- 
pose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our 
respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm 
each and every of the said articles of confederation and 
perpetual union, and all and singular the matters and things 
therein contained: and we do further solemnly plight and 
engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they 
shall abide by the determinations of the United States in 
Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said con- 
federation are submitted to them. And that the articles 
thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we 
respectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in 
Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania the ninth day of July in the year of our Lord one 
thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the third 
year of the independence of America. 

On the part fy behalf of the State of New Hampshire 
Josiah Bartlett John Wentworth, Junr 

August 8th, 1778 
69 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



i 



On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay 

John Hancock Francis Dana 

Samuel Adams James Lovell 

Elbridge Gerry Samuel Holten 

On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations 

William Ellery John Collins 

Henry Marchant 

On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut 

Roger Sherman Titus Hosmer 

Samuel Huntington Andrew Adams 

Oliver Wolcott 

On the part and behalf of the State of New York 

Jas. Duane Wm. Duer 

Fra. Lewis Gouv. Morris 

On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey 

Novr. 26, 1778 
Jno. Witherspoon Nathl. Scudder 

On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania 

Robt. Morris William Clingan 

Daniel Roberdeau Joseph Reed, 22d July, 

Jno. Bayard Smith 1778 

On the part ty behalf of the State of Delaware 

Thos. M'Kean, Feby. 12, John Dickinson, May 5th, 

1779 1779 

Nicholas Van Dyke 

70 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland 

John Hanson, March 1, Daniel Carroll, Mar. 1 
1781 1781 

On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia 

Richard Henry Lee Jno. Harvie 

John Banister Francis Lightfoot Lee 

Thomas Adams 

On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina 

John Penn, July 21, 1778 Jno. Williams 
Corns. Harnett 

On the part Sf behalf of the State of South Carolina 

Henry Laurens Richd. Hutson 

William Henry Drayton Thos. Heyward, Junr 
Jno. Matthews 

On the part <fy behalf of the State of Georgia. 

Jno. Walton, 24th July, Edwd. Langworthy 

1778 
Edwd. Telfair 



71 



Treaty with France 1778 

Treaty of Alliance between the United States of North 
America and His Most Christian Majesty, concluded at 
Paris February 6, 1778; Ratified by Congress May 4, 1778. 

The Most Christian King and the United States of North 
America, to wit: New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, 
Rhodes Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, and Georgia, having this day concluded 
a treaty of amity and commerce, for the reciprocal advan- 
tage of their subj ects and citizens, have thought it necessary 
to take in consideration the means of strengthening those 
engagements, and of rendring them useful to the safety and 
tranquility of the two parties; particularly in case Great 
Britain, in resentment of that connection and of the good 
correspondence which is the object of the said treaty, should 
break the peace with France, either by direct hostilities, or 
by hindring her commerce and navigation in a manner con- 
trary to the rights of nations, and the peace subsisting 
between the two Crowns. And His Majesty and the said 
United States, having resolved in that case to join their 
counsels and efforts against the enterprises of their common 
enemy, the respective Plenipotentiaries impowered to con- 
cert the clauses and conditions proper to fulfil said 
intentions, have, after the most mature deliberation, con- 
cluded and determined on the following articles: 

ARTICLE I 

If war should break out between France and Great 
Britain during the continuance of the present war between 

72 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the United States and England, His Majesty and the said 
United States shall make it a common cause and aid each 
other mutually with their good offices, their counsels and 
their forces, according to the exigence of conjunctures, as 
becomes good and faithful allies. 

ARTICLE II 

The essential and direct end of the present defensive 
alliance is to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, 
and independence absolute and unlimited, of the said United 
States, as well in matters of government as of commerce. 

ARTICLE III 

The two contracting parties shall each on its own part, 
and in the manner it may judge most proper, make all the 
efforts in its power against their common enemy, in order 
to attain the end proposed. 

ARTICLE IV 

The contracting parties agree that in case either of them 
should form any particular enterprise in which the concur- 
rence of the other may be desired, the party whose concur- 
rence is desired, shall readily, and with good faith, join to 
act in concert for that purpose, as far as circumstances and 
its own particular situation will permit; and in that case, 
they shall regulate, by a particular convention, the quantity 
and kind of succour to be furnished, and the time and 
manner of its being brought into action, as well as the 
advantages which are to be its compensation. 

article v 

If the United States should think fit to attempt the 
reduction of the British power, remaining in the northern 

73 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

parts of America, or the islands of Bermudas, those con- 
tries or islands, in case of success, shall be confederated 
with or dependent upon the said United States. 

ARTICLE VI 

The Most Christian King renounces forever the posses- 
sion of the islands of Bermudas, as well as of any part of 
the continent of North America, which before the treaty of 
Paris in 1763, or in virtue of that treaty, were acknowledged 
to belong to the Crown of Great Britain, or to the United 
States, heretofore called British Colonies, or which are at 
this time, or have lately been under the power of the King 
and Crown of Great Britain. 

ARTICLE VII 

If His Most Christian Majesty shall think proper to 
attack any of the islands situated in the Gulph of Mexico, 
or near that Gulph, which are at present under the power of 
Great Britain, all the said isles, in case of success, shall 
appertain to the Crown of France. 

ARTICLE VIII 

Neither of the two parties shall conclude either truce or 
peace with Great Britain without the formal consent of the 
other first obtained; and they mutually engage not to lay 
down their arms until the independence of the United States 
shall have been formally or tacitly assured by the treaty or 
treaties that shall terminate the war. 

ARTICLE IX 

The contracting parties declare, that being resolved to 
fulfil each on its own part the clauses and conditions of the 

74 



NATIONAL DOC U M E N T S 

present treaty of alliance, according to its own power and 
circumstances, there shall be no after claim of compensa- 
tion on one side or the other, whatever may be the event 
of the war. 

ARTICLE X 

The Most Christian King and the United States agree 
to invite or admit other powers who may have received 
injuries from England, to make common cause with them, 
and to accede to the present alliance, under such conditions 
as shall be freely agreed to and settled between all the 
parties. 

ARTICLE XI 

The two parties guarantee mutually from the present 
time and forever against all other powers, to wit: The 
United States to His Most Christian Majesty, the present 
possessions of the Crown of France in America, as well as 
those which it may acquire by the future treaty of peace: 
And His Most Christian Majesty guarantees on his part to 
the United States their liberty, sovereignty, and independ- 
ence, absolute and unlimited, as well in matters of govern- 
ment as commerce, and also their possessions, and the 
additions or conquests that their confederation may obtain 
during the war, from any of the dominions now, or hereto- 
fore possessed by Great Britain in North America, con- 
formable to the 5th and 6th articles above written, the whole 
as their possessions shall be fixed and assured to the said 
States, at the moment of the cessation of their present 
war with England. 

ARTICLE XII 

In order to fix more precisely the sense and application 
of the preceding article, the contracting parties declare, 
that in case of a rupture between France and England the 

75 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

reciprocal guarantee declared in the said article shall have 
its full force and effect the moment such war shall break 
out; and if such rupture shall not take place, the mutual 
obligations of the said guarantee shall not commence until 
the moment of the cessation of the present war between the 
United States and England shall have ascertained their 
possessions. 

ARTICLE XIII 

The present treaty shall be ratified on both sides, and the 
ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of six months, 
or sooner if possible. 

In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries, to wit: 
On the part of the Most Christian King, Conrad Alexander 
Gerard, Royal Syndic of the city of Strasbourgh, and 
Secretary of his Majesty's Council of State; and on the part 
of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, Deputy to the 
General Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, and 
President of the Convention of the same State, Silas Deane, 
heretofore Deputy from the State of Connecticut, and 
Arthur Lee, Councellor at Law, have signed the above arti- 
cles both in the French and English languages, declaring, 
nevertheless, that the present treaty was originally com- 
posed and concluded in the French language, and they have 
hereunto affixed their seals. 

Done at Paris this sixth day of February, one thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-eight. 

C. A. Gerard [l. s.] 
B. Franklin [l. s.] 
Silas Deane [l. s.] 
Arthur Lee [l. s.] 



76 



Treaty with Great Britain 1783 

Definitive Treaty of Peace between the United States of 
America and His Britannic Majesty, Concluded at Paris 
September 3, 1783; Ratified by Congress January 14, 1784; 
Proclaimed January 14, 1784. 

In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. 

It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the 
hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George 
the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, 
France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of 
Brunswick and Luneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince 
Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, &ca., and of the United 
States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and 
differences that have unhappily interrupted the good corre- 
spondence and friendship which they mutually wish to 
restore; and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory 
intercourse between the two countries, upon the ground of 
reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience, as may pro- 
mote and secure to both perpetual peace and harmony : And 
having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of 
peace and reconciliation, by the provisional articles, signed 
at Paris, on the 30th of Nov'r, 1782, by the commissioners 
empowered on each part, which articles were agreed to be 
inserted in and to constitute the treaty of peace proposed 
to be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and 
the said United States, but which treaty was not to be con- 
cluded until terms of peace should be agreed upon between 
Great Britain and France, and His Britannic Majesty 
should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly ; and the 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

treaty between Great Britain and* France having since been 
concluded, His Britannic Maj esty and the United States of 
America, in order to carry into full effect the provisional 
articles above mentioned, according to the tenor thereof, 
have constituted and appointed, that is to say, His Britan- 
nic Majesty on his part, David Hartley, esqr., member of 
the Parliament of Great Britain; and the said United States 
on their part, John Adams, esqr., late a commissioner of 
the United States of America at the Court of Versailles, 
late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts, 
and chief justice of the said State, and Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary of the said United States to their High Mighti- 
nesses the States General of the United Netherlands; 
Benjamin Franklin, esq're, late Delegate in Congress from 
the State of Pennsylvania, president of the convention of 
the said State, and Minister Plenipotentiary from the 
United States of America at the Court of Versailles; John 
Jay, esq're, late president of Congress, and chief justice of 
the State of New York, and Minister Plenipotentiary from 
the said United States at the Court of Madrid, to be the 
Plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the present 
definitive treaty; who, after having reciprocally communi- 
cated their respective full powers, have agreed upon and 
confirmed the following articles: 

ARTICLE I 

His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United 
States, viz. New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode 
Island, and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be 
free, sovereign and independent States; that he treats with 
them as such, and for himself, his heirs and successors, relin- 

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quishes all claims to the Government, proprietory and terri- 
torial rights of the same, and every part thereof. 



ARTICLE II 

And that all disputes which might arise in future, on the 
subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be 
prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the follow- 
ing are, and shall be their boundaries, viz : From the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, viz. that angle which is formed 
by a line drawn due north from the source of Saint Croix 
River to the Highlands; along the said Highlands which 
divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. 
Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to 
the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River; thence 
down along the middle of that river, to the forty-fifth degree 
of north latitude; from thence, by a line due west on said 
latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy; 
thence along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, 
through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communi- 
cation by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence 
along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie, 
through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water 
communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence 
along the middle of said water communication into the Lake 
Huron; thence through the middle of said lake to the water 
communication between that lake and Lake Superior; 
thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal 
and Phelipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the 
middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication 
between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of 
the Woods ; thence through the said lake to the most north- 
western point thereof, and from thence on a due west course 
to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall inter- 
sect the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north 
latitude. South, by a line to be drawn due east from the 
determination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of 
thirty-one degrees north of the Equator, to the middle of 
the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the 
middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence 
straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and thence down 
along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean. 
East, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river 
St. Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, 
and from its source directly north to the aforesaid High- 
lands, which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic 
Ocean from those whicH fall into the river St. Lawrence; 
comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any 
part of the shores of the United States, and lying between 
lines to be drawn due east from the points where the afore- 
said boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and 
East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay 
of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean ; excepting such islands as 
now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the 
said province of Nova Scotia. 



ARTICLE III 

It is agreed that the people of the United States shall 
continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every 
kind on the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of New- 
foundland ; also in the Gulph of Saint Lawrence, and at all 
other places in the sea where the inhabitants of both coun- 
tries used at any time heretofore to fish. And also that the 
inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take 
fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfound- 
land as British fishermen shall use (but not to dry or cure 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the same on that island) and also on the coasts, bays, and 
creeks of all other of His Britannic Majesty's dominions 
in America; and that the American fishermen shall have 
liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, 
harbours, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, 
and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled; 
but so soon as the same or either of them shall be settled, 
it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure 
fish at such settlement, without a previous agreement for 
that purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors 
of the ground. 

ARTICLE IV 

It is agreed that creditors on either side shall meet with 
no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in 
sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted. 



article v 

It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recommend 
it to the legislatures of the respective States, to provide 
for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties 
which have been confiscated, belonging to real British sub- 
jects, and also of the estates, rights, and properties of 
persons resident in districts in the possession of His Maj- 
esty's arms, and who have not borne arms against the said 
United States. And that persons of any other description shall 
have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the 
thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve months, 
unmolested in their endeavours to obtain the restitution of 
such of their estates, rights, and properties as may have 
been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly 
recommend to the several States a reconsideration and 
revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises, so as to 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

render the said laws or acts perfectly consistent, not only 
with justice and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation 
which, on the return of the blessings of peace, should uni- 
versally prevail. And that Congress shall also earnestly 
recommend to the several States, that the estates, rights, 
and properties of such last mentioned persons, shall be 
restored to them, they refunding to any persons who may 
be now in possession, the bona fide price (where any has 
been given) which such persons may have paid on purchas- 
ing any of the said lands, rights, or properties, since the 
confiscation. And it is agreed, that all persons who have 
any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage 
settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impedi- 
ment in the prosecution of their just rights. 

ARTICLE VI 

That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any 
prosecutions commenc'd against any person or persons for, 
or by reason of the part which he or they may have taken 
in the present war ; and that no person shall, on that account, 
suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty, 
or property; and that those who may be in confinement on 
such charges, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in 
America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prose- 
cutions so commenced be discontinued. 



ARTICLE VII 

There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between His 
Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the 
subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore 
all hostilities, both by sea and land, shall from henceforth 
cease: All prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and His Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient speed, 
and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any 
negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, 
withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said 
United States, and from every port, place, and harbour 
within the same; leaving in all fortifications the American 
artillery that may be therein : And shall also order and cause 
all archives, records, deeds, and papers, belonging to any of 
the said States, or their citizens, which, in the course of the 
war, may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be 
forthwith restored and deliver'd to the proper States and 
persons to whom they belong. 

ARTICLE VIII 

The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source 
to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the sub- 
jects of Great Britain, and the citizens of the United States. 

ARTICLE IX 

In case it should so happen that any place or territory 
belonging to Great Britain or to the United States, should 
have been conquer'd by the arms of either from the other, 
before the arrival of the said provisional articles in Amer- 
ica, it is agreed, that the same shall be restored without 
difficulty, and without requiring any compensation. 

ARTICLE X 

The solemn ratifications of the present treaty, expedited 
in good and due form, shall be exchanged between the con- 
tracting parties, in the space of six months, or sooner if 
possible, to be computed from the day of the signature of 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the present treaty. In witness whereof, we the undersigned, 
their Ministers Plenipotentiary, have in their name and in 
virtue of our full powers, signed with our hands the present 
definitive treaty, and caused the seals of our arms to be 
affix'd thereto. 

Done at Paris, this third day of September, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. 

D. Hartley [l. s.] 

John Adams [l. s.] 
B. Franklin [l. s.] 
John Jay [l. s.] 



84 



The Northwest Territorial Government 1787 

An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the 
United States northwest of the river Ohio. 

Section 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Con- 
gress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of 
temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to 
be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, 
in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient. 

Sec. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That 
the estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in 
the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be 
distributed among, their children and the descendants of a 
deceased child in equal parts, the descendants of a deceased 
child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased par- 
ent in equal parts among them ; and where there shall be no 
children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of 
kin, in equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of 
a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in 
parts among them, their deceased parent's share; and there 
shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the 
whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of 
the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and 
one-third part of the personal estate; and this law relative 
to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until 
altered by the legislature of the district. And until the 
governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter men- 
tioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or 
bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or 
her in whom the estate may be, (being of full age,) and 
attested by three witnesses; and real estates may be con- 

85 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



. 



veyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, 
sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age, in 
whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, 
provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances 
be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and 
be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, 
courts, and registers shall be appointed for that purpose; 
and personal property may be transferred by delivery, 
saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, 
and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, Saint Vincents, and 
the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed 
themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now 
in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance 
of property. 

Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That 
there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a 
governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the 
term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he 
shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein 
in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his 
office. 

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by 
Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in 
force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside 
in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five 
hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It 
shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws 
passed by the legislature, and the public records of the 
district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive 
department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts 
and proceedings every six months to the Secretary of Con- 
gress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of 
three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall 
have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres 
of land, while in the exercise of their offices ; and their com- 
missions shall continue in force during good behavior. 

Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, 
shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the 
original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and 
best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report 
them to Congress from time to time, which laws shall be in 
force in the district until the organization of the general 
assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but 
afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter them 
as they shall think fit. 

Sec 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all 
officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all 
general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by 
Congress. 

Sec 7. Previous to the organization of the general 
assembly the governor shall appoint such magistrates, and 
other civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall 
find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good 
order in the same. After the general assembly shall be 
organized the powers and duties of magistrates and other 
civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said 
assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not 
herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of 
this temporary government, be appointed by the governor. 

Sec 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the 
laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of 
the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and 
civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and 
he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may 
require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the 
Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may 
thereafter be made by the legislature. 

Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male 
inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof 
thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with 
time and place, to elect representatives from their counties 
or townships, to represent them in the general assembly: 
Provided, That for every five hundred free male inhabitants 
there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively, 
with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of 
representation increase, until the number of representatives 
shall amount to twenty-five; after which the number and 
proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legis- 
lature: Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified 
to act as a representative, unless he shall have been a citizen 
of one of the United States three years, and be a resident 
in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district 
three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his 
own right, in fee-simple, two hundred acres of land within 
the same: Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of 
land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the 
States, and being resident in the district, or the like free- 
hold and two years' residence in the district, shall be neces- 
sary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative. 

Sec 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve 
for the term of two years; and in case of the death of a 
representative, or removal from office, the governor shall 
issue a writ to the county or township, for which he was a 
member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue 
of the term. 

Sec. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall 
consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of 
representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five 
members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum; 
and the members of the council shall be nominated and 
appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as rep- 
resentatives shall be elected the governor shall appoint a 
time and place for them to meet together, and when met 
they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, 
and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of 
land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Con- 
gress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; 
and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by 
death or removal from office, the house of representatives 
shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each 
vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom 
Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of 
the term; and every five years, four months at least before 
the expiration of the time of service of the members of the 
council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified 
as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of whom 
Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members 
of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the 
governor, legislative council, and house of representatives 
shall have authority to make laws in all cases for the good 
government of the district, not repugnant to the principles 
and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And 
all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a 
majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor 
for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall 
be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have 
power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general 
assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. 

Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, sec- 
retary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in 
the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and 
of office; the governor before the President of Congress, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and all other officers before the governor. As soon as a 
legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and 
house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint 
ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat 
in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, 
during this temporary government. 

Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles 
of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon 
these republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected; to 
fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, 
constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter 
shall be formed in the said territory; to provide, also, for 
the establishment of States, and permanent government 
therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal 
councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as 
early periods as may be consistent with the general interest: 

Sec 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the 
authority aforesaid, that the following articles shall be 
considered as articles of compact, between the original 
States and the people and States in the said territory, and 
forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, 
to wit: 

ARTICLE I 

No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly 
manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of 
worship, or religious sentiments, in the said territories. 



ARTICLE II 

The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be 
entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of 
the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the 
people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

according to the course of common law. All persons shall 
be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof shall 
be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be 
moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be 
inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or prop- 
erty, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the 
land, and should the public exigencies make it necessary, 
for the common preservation, to take any person's property, 
or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall 
be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of 
rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no 
law ought ever to be made or have force in the said terri- 
tory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or 
affect private contracts, or engagements, bona fide, and 
without fraud previously formed. 

ARTICLE III 

Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to 
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. 
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the 
Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken from 
them without their consent; and in their property, rights, 
and liberty they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless 
in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws 
founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, 
be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for 
preserving peace and friendship with them. 

ARTICLE IV 

The said territory, and the States which may be formed 
therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the United States of America, subject to the Articles of 
Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be 
constitutionally made ; and to all the acts and ordinances of 
the United States in Congress assembled, conformable 
thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory 
shall be subject to pay a part of the Federal debts, con- 
tracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the 
expenses of government to be apportioned on them by Con- 
gress, according to the same common rule and measure by 
which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other 
States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be 
laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legis- 
latures of the district, or districts, or new States, as in the 
original States, within the time agreed upon by the United 
States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those 
districts, or new States, shall never interfere with the pri- 
mary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress 
assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find 
necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide 
purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property 
of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident 
proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable 
waters leading into the Mississippi and Saint Lawrence, 
and the carrying places between the same, shall be common 
highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the 
said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and 
those of any other States that may be admitted into the 
confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. 

ARTICLE V 

There shall be formed in the said territory not less than 
three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the 
States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established 
as follows, to wit : The Western State, in the said territory, 
shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the 
Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and 
Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial line between 
the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial 
lines to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle 
State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash 
from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct 
line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami 
to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. 
The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned 
direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial 
line: Provided, however, And it is further understood and 
declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall 
be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall 
hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form 
one or two States in that part of the said territory which 
lies north of an east and west line drawn through the south- 
erly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever 
any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free 
inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its 
delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an 
equal footing with the original States, in all respects what- 
ever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent consti- 
tution and State government : Provided, The constitution and 
government, so to be formed, shall be republican, and in 
conformity to the principles contained in these articles, 
and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest 
of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an 
earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free 
inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand. 



93 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE VI 

There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of 
crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: 
Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, 
from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one 
of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully 
reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her 
service as aforesaid. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the reso- 
lutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of 
this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and 
declared null and void. 

Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 
13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of 
their sovereignty and independence the twelfth. 



94 



Constitution of the United States 1787 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a 
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic 
Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the 
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to 
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Section 1 All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall con- 
sist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section 2 (1) The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the 
People of the several States, and the Electors in each State 
shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the 
most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

(2) No person shall be a Representative who shall not 
have attained to the Age of Twenty-five years, and been 
seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which 
he shall be chosen. 

(3) Representatives and direct Taxes shall be appor- 
tioned among the several States which may be included 
within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, 
which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number 
of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a 
Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three 
fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration 
shall be made within three Years after the first Meet- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing of the Congress of the United States, and within 
every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as 
they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives 
shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each 
State shall have at Least one Representative ; and until such 
enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire 
shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode- 
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, 
New- York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Dela- 
ware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, 
South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

(4) When vacancies happen in the Representation from 
any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs 
of Election to fill such Vacancies. 

(5) The House of Representatives shall chuse their 
Speaker and other Officers ; and shall have the sole Power of 
Impeachment. 

Section 3 (1) The Senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the 
Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall 
have one Vote. 

(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled in Conse- 
quence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally 
as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators 
of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the 
second year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the 
fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the 
sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second 
Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or other- 
wise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, 
the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments 
until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then 
fill such Vacancies. 

(3) No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have 

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attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years 
a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall 
be chosen. 

(4) The Vice President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they 
be equally divided. 

(5) The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also 
a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice Presi- 
dent, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of 
the United States. 

(6) The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Im- 
peachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be 
on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United 
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no Per- 
son shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds 
of the Members present. 

(7) Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under 
the United States: but the Party convicted shall neverthe- 
less be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment 
and Punishment, according to Law. 

Section 4 (1) The Times, Places and Manner of hold- 
ing Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be 
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but 
the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such 
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. 

(2) The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different 
Day. 

Section 5 (1) Each House shall be the Judge of the 
Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, 

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and a Maj ority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Bus- 
iness; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent 
Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as 
each House may provide. 

(2) Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceed- 
ings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with 
the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

(3) Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the 
Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any 
question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those present, 
be entered on the Journal. 

(4) Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, 
without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the 
two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6 (1) The Senators and Representatives shall 
receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained 
by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. 
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach 
of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attend- 
ance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going 
to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or 
Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in 
any other Place. 

(2) No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office 
under the Authority of the United States, which shall have 
been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been 
encreased during such time; and no Person holding any 
Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either 
House during his Continuance in Office. 

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Section 7(1) All Bills for raising Revenue shall origi- 
nate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may 
propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

(2) Every Bill which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a 
Law, be presented to the President of the United States; 
If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return 
it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their 
Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Recon- 
sideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the 
Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the 
other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and 
if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a 
Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall 
be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the 
Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on 
the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall 
not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
Same shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, 
unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its 
Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

(3) Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Con- 
currence of the Senate and House of Representatives may 
be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall 
be presented to the President of the United States; and 
before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by 
him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two 
thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, accord- 
ing to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of 
a Bill. 

Section 8 (1) The Congress shall have Power To lay 
and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the 

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Debts and provide for the common Defence and general 
Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and 
Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 

(2) To borrow money on the Credit of the United 
States ; 

(3) To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

(4) To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and 
uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout 
the United States ; 

(5) To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of 
foreign Coin, and to fix the Standard of Weights and 
Measures ; 

(6) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting 
the Securities and current Coin of the United States; 

(7) To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 

(8) To promote the Progress of Science and useful 
Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inven- 
tors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and 
Discoveries ; 

(9) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court ; 

(10) To define and Punish Piracies and Felonies com- 
mitted on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of 
Nations ; 

(11) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and 
Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and 
Water ; 

(12) To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation 
of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two 
Years ; 

(13) To provide and maintain a Navy; 

(14) To make Rules for the Government and Regula- 
tion of the land and naval Forces; 

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(15) To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute 
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel 
Invasions ; 

(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
ing, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as 
may be employed in the Service of the United States, 
reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of 
the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia 
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

(17) To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases what- 
soever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) 
as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance 
of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the 
United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places 
purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State 
in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, 
Magazines, Arsenals, dock- Yards, and other needful Build- 
ings ; — And 

(18) To make all Laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, 
and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the 
Government of the United States, or in any Department 
or Officer thereof. 

Section 9 (1) The Migration or Importation of such 
Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper 
to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to 
the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax 
or Duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceed- 
ing ten dollars for each Person. 

(2) The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or 
Invasion the public Safety may require it. 

(3) No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be 
passed, 

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(4) No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, 
unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein 
before directed to be taken. 

(5) No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported 
from any State. 

(6) No preference shall be given by any Regulation of 
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those 
of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, 
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

(7) No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but 
in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a 
regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expen- 
ditures of all public Money shall be published from time 
to time. 

(8) No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United 
States : And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust 
under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, 
accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any 
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 

Section 10 (1) No State shall enter into any Treaty, 
Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and 
Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any 
Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of 
Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or 
Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any 
Title of Nobility. 

(2) No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, 
lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspec- 
tion Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, 
laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the 
Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such 
Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the 
Congress. 

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(3) No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay 
any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in 
time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with 
another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will 
not admit of Delay. 

ARTICLE II 

Section 1 (1) The executive Power shall be vested in a 
President of the United States of America. He shall hold 
his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with 
the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, 
as follows: 

(2) Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the 
Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, 
equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives 
to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no 
Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of 
Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an Elector. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall 
not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. 
And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and 
of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of Govern- 
ment of the United States, directed to the President of the 
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person 
having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, 
if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of 
Electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have 
such Majority and have an equal Number of Votes, then 

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the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by 
Ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a 
Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said 
House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in 
chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, 
the Representation from each State having one Vote; A 
quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or 
Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every 
Case, after the Choice of the President, the person having 
the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the 
Vice President. But if there should remain two or more 
who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by 
Ballot the Vice-President. 

(3) The Congress may determine the Time of chusing 
the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their 
Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United 
States. 

(4) No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citi- 
zen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this 
Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; 
neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who 
shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and 
been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. 

(5) In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, 
or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the 
Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve 
on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law pro- 
vide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or In- 
ability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring 
what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall 
act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a Presi- 
dent shall be elected. 

(6) The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his 

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Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased 
nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have 
been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period 
any other Emolument from the United States, or any 
of them. 

(7) Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he 
shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: — "I do 
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the Office of President of the United States, and will to 
the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the 
Constitution of the United States." 

Section 2 (1) The President shall be Commander in 
Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of 
the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual 
Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, 
in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive 
Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of 
their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant 
Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United 
States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

(2) He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and 
Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds 
of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and 
by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall ap- 
point Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Councils, 
Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the 
United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise 
provided for, and which shall be established by Law : but the 
Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such infe- 
rior Officers, as they think proper, in the President 
alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Pleads of De- 
partments. 

(3) The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacan- 
cies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by 

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granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of 
their next Session. 

Section 3 He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to 
their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge neces- 
sary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, 
convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Dis- 
agreement between them, with Respect to the Time of 
Adj ournment, he may adj ourn them to such Time as he shall 
think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public 
Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully 
executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United 
States. 

Section 4 The President, Vice President and all civil 
Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office 
on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, 
or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 

Section 1 The judicial Power of the United States, shall 
be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts 
as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. 
The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall 
hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated 
Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which 
shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. 

Section 2 (1) The judicial Power shall extend to all 
Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, 
the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under their Authority ; — to all Cases affecting 
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; — to all 
Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; — to Contro- 
versies to which the United States shall be a Party ; — to Con- 

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troversies between two or more States; — between a State 
and Citizens of another State; — between Citizens of differ- 
ent States, — between Citizens of the same State claiming 
Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, 
or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or 
Subjects. 

(2) In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be 
a Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. 
In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court 
shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, 
with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the 
Congress shall make. 

(3) The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeach- 
ment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the 
State where the said Crimes shall have been committed ; but 
when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be 
at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have 
directed. 

Section 3(1) Treason against the United States, shall 
consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to 
their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person 
shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of 
two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in 
open Court. 

(2) The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punish- 
ment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work 
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life 
of the Person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

Section 1 Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each 
State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings 

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of every other State. And the Congress may by general 
Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and 
Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section 2 (1) The Citizens of each State shall be 
entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the 
several States. 

(2) A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, 
or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in 
another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority 
of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to be 
removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

(3) No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, 
under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in 
Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be dis- 
charged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered 
up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour 
may be due. 

Section 3(1) New States may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or 
erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any 
State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or 
Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of 
the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

(2) The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and 
make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the 
Territory or other Property belonging to the United States ; 
and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to 
Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any par- 
ticular State. 

Section 4 The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and 
shall protect each of them against Invasion ; and on Appli- 
cation of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the 
Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. 

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ARTICLE V 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Consti- 
tution, or, on the Application of the Legislature of two 
thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for 
proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid 
to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, 
when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the 
several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, 
as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed 
by the Congress ; Provided that no Amendment which may be 
made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses 
in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, 
without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage 
in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

( 1 ) All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, 
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid 
against the United States under this Constitution, as under 
the Confederation. 

(2) This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all Treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and 
the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing 
in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary 
notwithstanding. 

(3) The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 
and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and 

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of the several States,, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, 
to support this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever 
be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust 
under the United States. 



ARTICLE VII 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall 
be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution 
between the States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the 
States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the 
Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the Twelfth. Ill Witness whereof 
We have hereunto subscribed our Names, 

G? Washington 
Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia, 

New Hampshire 
John Langdon Nicholas Gilman 

Massachusetts 
Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King 

Connecticut 
Wm. Saml. Johnson Roger Sherman 

New York 

Alexander Hamilton 

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New Jersey 

Wil: Livingston Wm. Patterson 

David Brearley Jona: Dayton 

Pennsylvania 

B. Franklin Thos. Fitzsimons 

Thomas Mifflin Jared Ingersoll 

Robt. Morris James Wilson 

Geo. Clymer Gouv. Morris 

Delaware 

Geo. Read Richard Bassett 

Gunning Bedford, Jun Jaco: Broom 
John Dickinson 

Maryland 

James McHenry Danl. Carroll 

Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer 

Virginia 
John Blair James Madison, Jr 

North Carolina 

Wm. Blount Hu. Williamson 

rlchd dobbs spaight 

South Carolina 

J. Rutledge Charles Pinckney 

Charles Cotesworth Pierce Butler 

Pinckney 

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Georgia 

William Few Abr. Baldwin 

Attest William Jackson Secretary 

Amendments 

Articles in Addition to,, and Amendment of, the Constitu- 
tion of the United States of America, Proposed by Con- 
gress, and Ratified by the Legislatures of the Several States 
Pursuant to the Fifth Article of the Original Constitution. 

ARTICLE I 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment 
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the Government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security 
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear 
Arms, shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any 
house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of 
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 

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and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall 
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirma- 
tion, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 



article v 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other- 
wise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment 
of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval 
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of 
War or in public danger; nor shall any person be subject 
for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or 
limb; nor shall be compelled in any Criminal Case to be 
a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law; nor shall private 
property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 



ARTICLE VI 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury 
of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been 
committed, which district shall have been previously ascer- 
tained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of 
the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against 
him; to have compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses 
in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his 
defence. 

ARTICLE VII 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall 
be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise 

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re-examined in any Court of the United States, than accord- 
ing to the rules of the common law. 



ARTICLE VIII 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained 
by the people. 

ARTICLE X 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
to the States respectively, or to the people. 

AR1HCLE XI 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced 
or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens 
of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign 
State. 

ARTICLE XII 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and 
vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state 
with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person 
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct 

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lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons 
voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for 
each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the President of the Senate; — The President of 
the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall 
then be counted; — The person having the greatest number 
of votes for President, shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of Electors 
appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from 
the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of 
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot^ the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall 
be taken by states, the representation from each state hav- 
ing one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a 
majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a 
President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then 
the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of 
the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and 
if no person have a majority, then from the two highest 
numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-Presi- 
dent; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-tKirds 
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the 
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person 
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

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ARTICLE XIII 

Section 1 Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United 
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2 Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV 

Section 1 All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens 
of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. 
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge 
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any 
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2 Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective numbers, 
counting the whole number of persons in each State, exclud- 
ing Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any 
election for the choice of electors for President and Vice 
President of the United States, Representatives in Con- 
gress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the 
members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the 
male inhabitants of such States, being twenty-one years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other 
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in 
the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall 
bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years 
of age in such State. 

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Section 3 No person shall be a Senator or Representa- 
tive in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, 
or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, 
or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, 
as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United 
States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an 
executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the 
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or 
comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a 
vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Section 4 The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for pay- 
ment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing 
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But 
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or 
pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection 
or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the 
loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obli- 
gations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5 The Congress shall have power to enforce, 
by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 



article xv 

Section 1 The right of citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States 
or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condi- 
tion of servitude. 

Section 2 The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 



117 



Washington's First Inaugural Address 1789 

Fellow-Citizens : 

Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could 
have filled me with greater anxieties, than that of which 
the notification was transmitted by your order, and re- 
ceived on the 14th day of the present month. On the one 
hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can 
never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat 
which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in 
my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the 
asylum of my declining years; a retreat which was ren- 
dered every day more necessary as well as more dear to 
me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent 
interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed 
on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and diffi- 
culty of the trust, to which the voice of my country called 
me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most ex- 
perienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his 
qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence 
one, who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and 
unpracticed in the duties of civil administration, ought to 
be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this 
conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has been my 
faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation 
of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All 
I dare hope is, that, if in executing this task, I have been 
too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former in- 
stances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcen- 
dent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens; and 
have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as 
disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me; 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, 
and its consequences be judged by my country with some 
share of the partiality in which they originated. 

Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedi- N 
ence to the public summons, repaired to the present station, 
it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official 
act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who 
rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of 
nations, and whose providential aids can supply every hu- 
man defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the 
liberties and happiness of the people of the United States 
a government instituted by themselves for these essential 
purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in 
its administration to execute with success the functions 
allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the 
great Author of every public and private good, I assure 
myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my 
own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than 
either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore 
the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more 
than the people of the United States. Every step, by 
which they have advanced to the character of an independ- 
ent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some 
token of providential agency. And, in the important revo- 
lution just accomplished in the system of their united gov- 
ernment, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent 
of so many distinct communities, from which the event has 
resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which 
most governments have been established, without some re- 
turn of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation 
of the future blessings which the past seems to presage. 
These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have 
forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be sup- 
pressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that 

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there are none, under the influence of which the proceed- 
ings of a new and free government can more auspiciously 
commence. 

By the article establishing the executive department, it 
is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary 
and expedient." The circumstances, under which I now 
meet you, will acquit me from entering into that subject 
farther than to refer you to the great constitutional charter 
under which we are assembled; and which, in defining your 
powers, designates the objects to which your attention is 
to be given. It will be more consistent with those circum- 
stances, and far more congenial with the feelings which 
actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of 
particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, 
the rectitude, and the patriotism, which adorn the char- 
acters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honor- 
able qualifications I behold the surest pledges, that as, on 
one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate 
views or party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive 
and equal eye, which ought to watch over this great 
assemblage of communities and interests; so, on another, 
that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in 
the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and 
the preeminence of a free government be exemplified by 
all the attributes, which can win the affections of its citi- 
zens, and command the respect of the world. 

I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction, which 
an ardent love for my country can inspire; since there is 
no truth more thoroughly established, than that there ex- 
ists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble 
union between virtue and happiness, between duty and 
advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and 
magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public pros- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

perity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded 
that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected 
on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and 
right, which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the 1 
preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny 
of the republican model of government, are justly con- f 
sidered as deeply, perhaps as -finally staked on the experi- 
ment intrusted to the hands of the American people. 

Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it 
will remain with your judgment to decide, how far an ex- 
ercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article 
of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present 
juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged 
against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which 
has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particu- 
lar recommendations on this subject, in which I could be 
guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I 
shall again give way to my entire confidence in your dis- 
cernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure my- 
self, that, whilst you carefully avoid every alteration, which 
might endanger the benefits of a united and effective gov- 
ernment, or which ought to await the future lessons of 
experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of 
freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will suffi- 
ciently influence your deliberations on the question, how 
far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the 
latter be safely and advantageously promoted. 

To the preceding observations I have one to add, which 
will be most properly addressed to the House of Repre- 
sentatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as 
brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call 
into the service of my country, then on the eve of an ardu- 
ous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contem- 
plated my duty required, that I should renounce every 

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pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in 
no instance departed. And being still under the impres- 
sions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to 
myself any share in the personal emoluments, which may 
be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the 
executive department; and must accordingly pray, that the 
pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed 
may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual 
expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. 
Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have 
been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, 
I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting 
once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in 
humble supplication, that, since he has been pleased to 
favor the American people with opportunities for deliber- 
ating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding 
with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for 
the security of their union and the advancement of their 
happiness; so his divine blessing may be equally conspicu- 
ous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and 
the wise measures, on which the success of this government 
must depend. 



122 



Washington's Second Inaugural Address 17 9 S 

Fellow-Citizens : 

I am again called by the voice of my country to execute 
the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion 
proper for it shall arrive I shall endeavor to express the 
high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of 
the confidence which has been reposed in me by. the people 
of united America. 

Previous to the execution of any official act of the Presi- 
dent the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath 
I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it 
shall be found during my administration of the government 
I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the 
injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitu- 
tional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all 
who are witnesses of the present solemn ceremony. 



123 



Proclamation of Neutrality 1793 

Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between 
Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United 
Netherlands, of the one part, and France on the other; and 
the duty and interest of the United States require, that 
they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pur- 
sue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent 
Powers : 

I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare 
the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct 
aforesaid toward those Powers respectively; and to exhort 
and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to 
avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in 
any manner tend to contravene such disposition. 

And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the 
citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to 
punishment or forfeiture under the law of nations, by com- 
mitting; aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the 
said Powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles 
which are deemed contraband by the modern usage of na- 
tions, will not receive the protection of the United States, 
against such punishment or forfeiture; and further, that I 
have given instructions to those officers, to whom it belongs, 
to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons, 
who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United 
States, violate the law of nations, with respect to the Powers 
at war, or any of them. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the 
United States of America to be affixed to these presents, 

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and signed the same with my hand. Done at the city of 
Philadelphia, the twenty-second day of April, one thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-three, and of the Independence 
of the United States of America the seventeenth. 

G? Washington 



125 



Treaty with the Sice Nations 17 9 i 

The President of the United States having determined 
to hold a conference with the Six Nations of Indians, for 
the purpose of removing from their minds all causes of 
complaint, and establishing a firm and permanent friend- 
ship with them; and Timothy Pickering being appointed 
sole agent for that purpose ; and the agent having met and 
conferred with the Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors of the 
Six Nations, in a general council: Now in order to accom- 
plish the good design of this conference, the parties have 
agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by 
the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate 
of the United States, shall be binding on them and the 
Six Nations. 

ARTICLE I 

Peace and friendship are hereby firmly established, and 
shall be perpetual, between the United States and the Six 
Nations. 

ARTICLE II 

The United States acknowledge the lands reserved to 
the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga Nations, in their 
respective treaties with the state of New York, and called 
their reservations, to be their property; and the United 
States will never claim the same, nor disturb them or either 
of the Six Nations, nor their Indian friends residing thereon 
and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: 
but the said reservations shall remain theirs, until they 
choose to sell the same to the people of the United States 
who have right to purchase. 

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ARTICLE III 

The land of the Seneka nation is bounded as follows: 
Beginning on Lake Ontario, at the north-west corner of the 
land they sold to Oliver Phelps, the line runs westerly 
along the lake, as far as O-yong-wong-yeh Creek, at John- 
son's Landing-place, about four miles eastward from the 
fort of Niagara; then southerly up that creek to its main 
fork, then straight to the main fork of Stedman's Creek, 
which empties into the river Niagara, above Fort Schlos- 
ser, and then onward, from that fork, continuing the 
same straight course, to that river; (this line, from 
the mouth of O-yong-wong-yeh Creek to the river Niagara, 
above Fort Schlosser, being the eastern boundary of a strip 
of land, extending from the same line to Niagara River, 
which the Seneka nation ceded to the King of Great Britain, 
at a treaty held about thirty years ago, with Sir William 
Johnson;) then the line runs along the river Niagara to 
Lake Erie; then along Lake Erie to the north-east corner 
of a triangular piece of land which the United States con- 
veyed to the state of Pennsylvania, as by the President's 
patent, dated the third day of March, 1792; then due south 
to the northern boundary of that state ; then due east to the 
south-west corner of the land sold by the Seneka nation to 
Oliver Phelps ; and then north and northerly, along Phelps's 
line, to the place beginning on Lake Ontario. Now, the 
United States acknowledge all the land within the afore- 
mentioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneka 
nation ; and the United States will never claim the same, nor 
disturb the Seneka nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or 
their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, 
in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but it shall remain 
theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of 
the United States, who have the right to purchase. 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE IV 



The United States having thus described and acknowl- 
edged what lands belong to the Oneidas, Onondagas, 
Cayugas, and Senekas, and engaged never to claim the same, 
nor to disturb them, or any of the Six Nations, or their 
Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in 
the free use and enjoyment thereof: Now the Six Nations, 
and each of them, hereby engage that they will never claim 
any other lands within the boundaries of the United States ; 
nor ever disturb the people of the United States in the free 
use and enjoyment thereof. 



ARTICLE V 

The Seneka nation, all others of the Six Nations con- 
curring, cede to the United States the right of making a 
wagon road from Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie, as far south 
as Buffaloe Creek; and the people of the United States 
shall have the free and undisturbed use of this road, for the 
purposes of travelling and transportation. And the Six 
Nations, and each of them, will forever allow to the people 
of the United States, a free passage through their lands, 
and the free use of their harbors and rivers adjoining and 
within their respective tracts of land, for the passing and 
securing of vessels and boats, and liberty to land their car- 
goes when necessary for their safety. 

ARTICLE VI 

In consideration of the peace and friendship hereby 
established, and of the engagements entered into by the 
Six Nations; and because the United States desire, with 

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humanity and kindness, to contribute to their comfortable 
support; and to render the peace and friendship hereby 
established strong and perpetual; the United States now 
deliver to the Six Nations, and the Indians of the other 
nations residing among and united with them, a quantity 
of goods of the value of ten thousand dollars. And for 
the same considerations, and with a view to promote the 
future welfare of the Six Nations, and of their Indian 
friends aforesaid, the United States will add the sum of 
three thousand dollars to the one thousand five hundred 
dollars, heretofore allowed them by an article ratified by 
the President, on the twenty-third day of April 1792; mak- 
ing in the whole, four thousand five hundred dollars ; which 
shall be expended yearly forever, in purchasing clothing, 
domestic animals, implements of husbandry and other 
utensils suited to their circumstances, and in compensating 
useful artificers, who shall reside with them or near them, 
and be employed for their benefit. The immediate applica- 
tion of the whole annual allowance now stipulated, to be 
made by the superintendent appointed by the President for 
the affairs of the Six Nations, and their Indian friends 
aforesaid. 

ARTICLE VII 

Lest the firm peace and friendship now established should 
be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United 
States and Six Nations agree, that for injuries done by 
individuals on either side, no private revenge or retaliation 
shall take place; but, instead thereof, complaint shall be 
made by the party injured, to the other: By the Six Nations 
or any of them, to the President of the United States, or 
the Superintendent by him. appointed: and by the Super- 
intendent, or other person appointed by the President, to 
the principal chiefs of the Six Nations, or of the nation to 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

which the offender belongs: and such prudent measures 
shall then be pursued as shall be necessary to preserve our 
peace and friendship unbroken; until the legislature (or 
great council) of the United States shall make the equitable 
provision for the purpose. 

Note : It is clearly understood by the parties to this treaty, 
that the annuity stipulated in the sixth article, is to be 
applied to the benefit of such of the Six Nations and of 
their Indian friends united with them as aforesaid, as do 
or shall reside within the boundaries of the United States : 
for the United States do not interfere with nations, tribes 
or families, of Indians elsewhere resident. 



130 



Treaty with Great Biitain 17 9 A 

Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, between His 
Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, by 
their President, with the Advice and Consent of their Sen- 
ate, Concluded at London November 19, 1794; Ratifications 
Exchanged October 28, 1795; Proclaimed February 29, 
1796. Articles XI to XXVII, inclusive, of this treaty ex- 
pired by limitation. 

His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, 
being desirous, by a treaty of amity, commerce, and naviga- 
tion, to terminate their differences in such a manner, as, 
without reference to the merits of their respective com- 
plaints and pretentions, may be the best calculated to pro- 
duce mutual satisfaction and good understanding; and also 
to regulate the commerce and navigation between their 
respective countries, territories, and people, in such a manner 
as to render the same reciprocally beneficial and satisfactory ; 
they have, respectively, named their Plenipotentiaries, and 
given them full powers to treat of, and conclude the said 
treaty, that is to say : 

His Britannic Majesty has named for his Plenipoten- 
tiary, the Right Honorable William Wyndham Baron Gren- 
ville of Wotton, one of His Majesty's Privy Council, and 
His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign 
Affairs; and the President of the United States, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, hath 
appointed for their Plenipotentiary, the Honorable John 
Jay, Chief Justice of the said United States, and their 
Envoy Extraordinary to His Majesty; 

Who have agreed on and concluded the following articles : 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE I 

There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal peace, 
and a true and sincere friendship between His Britannic 
Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the United States 
of America; and between their respective countries, terri- 
tories, cities, towns and people of every degree, without 
exception of persons or places. 

ARTICLE II 

His Majesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons 
from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned 
by the treaty of peace to the United States. This evacua- 
tion shall take place on or before the first day of June, one 
thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and all the proper 
measures shall in the interval be taken by concert between 
the Government of the United States and His Majesty's 
Governor-General in America, for settling the previous 
arrangements which may be necessary respecting the 
delivery of the said posts: The United States in the mean 
time, at their discretion, extending their settlements to any 
part of the said boundary line, except within the precincts 
or jurisdiction of the said posts. All settlers and traders, 
within the precincts or jurisdiction of the said posts, shall 
continue to enjoy, unmolested, all their property of every 
kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall be at full 
liberty to remain there, or to remove with all or any part of 
their effects; and it shall also be free to them to sell their 
lands, houses, or effects, or to retain the property thereof, 
at their discretion; such of them as shall continue to reside 
within the said boundary lines, shall not be compelled to 
become citizens of the United States, or to take any oath 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

of allegiance to the Government thereof; but they shall be 
at full liberty so to do if they think proper, and they shall 
make and declare their election within one year after the 
evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who shall continue 
there after the expiration of the said year, without having 
declared their intention of remaining subjects of His Bri- 
tannic Majesty, shall be considered as having elected to 
become citizens of the United States. 



ARTICLE III 

It is agreed that it shall at all times be free to His 
Majesty's subjects, and to the citizens of the United States, 
and also to the Indians dwelling on either side of the said 
boundary line, freely to pass and repass by land or inland 
navigation, into the respective territories and countries of 
the two parties, on the continent of America, (the country 
within the limits of the Hudson's Bay Company only 
excepted,) and to navigate all the lakes, rivers, and waters 
thereof, and freely to carry on trade and commerce with 
each other. But it is understood that this article does not 
extend to the admission of vessels of the United States 
into the sea-ports, harbours, bays, or creeks of His Majesty's 
said territories; nor into such parts of the rivers in His Maj- 
esty's said territories as are between the mouth thereof, and 
the highest port of entry from the sea, except in small vessels 
trading bona fide between Montreal and Quebec, under such 
regulations as shall be established to prevent the possibility 
of any frauds in this respect. Nor to the admission of Brit- 
ish vessels from the sea into the rivers of the United States, 
beyond the highest ports of entry for foreign vessels from 
the sea. The river Mississippi shall, however, according to 
the treaty of peace, be entirely open to both parties ; and it 
is further agreed, that all the ports and places on its eastern 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

side, to whichsoever of the parties belonging, may freely 
be resorted to and used by both parties, in as ample a 
manner as any of the Atlantic ports or places of the United 
States, or any of the ports or places of His Majesty in 
Great Britain. 

All goods and merchandize whose importation into His 
Majesty's said territories in America shall not be entirely 
prohibited, may freely, for the purposes of commerce, be 
carried into the same in the manner aforesaid, by the citi- 
zens of the United States, and such goods and merchandize 
shall be subject to no higher or other duties than would be 
payable by His Majesty's subjects on the importation of 
the same from Europe into the said territories. And in 
like manner, all goods and merchandize whose importation 
into the United States shall not be wholly prohibited, may 
freely, for the purposes of commerce, be carried into the 
same, in the manner aforesaid, by His Majesty's subjects, 
and such goods and merchandize shall be subject to no 
higher or other duties than would be payable by the citizens 
of the United States on the importation of the same in 
American vessels into the Atlantic ports of the said States. 
And all goods not prohibited to be exported from the said 
territories respectively, may in like manner be carried out 
of the same by the two parties respectively, paying duty 
as aforesaid. 

No duty of entry shall ever be levied by either party on 
peltries brought by land or inland navigation into the said 
territories respectively, nor shall the Indians passing or 
repassing with their own proper goods and effects of what- 
ever nature, pay for the same any impost or duty whatever. 
But goods in bales, or other large packages, unusual among 
Indians, shall not be considered as goods belonging bona 
fide to Indians. 

No higher or other tolls or rates of ferriage than what 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

are or shall be payable by natives, shall be demanded on 
either side; and no duties shall be payable on any goods 
which shall merely be carried over any of the portages or 
carrying-places on either side, for the purpose of being 
immediately re-imbarked and carried to some other place 
or places. But as by this stipulation it is only meant to se- 
cure to each party a free passage across the portages on both 
sides, it is agreed that this exemption from duty shall extend 
only to such goods as are carried in the usual and direct 
road across the portage, and are not attempted to be in any 
manner sold or exchanged during their passage across the 
same, and proper regulations may be established to prevent 
the possibility of any frauds in this respect. 

As this article is intended to render in a great degree the 
local advantages of each party common to both, and thereby 
to promote a disposition favorable to friendship and good 
neighborhood, it is agreed that the respective Governments 
will mutually promote this amicable intercourse, by causing 
speedy and impartial justice to be done, and necessary 
protection to be extended to all who may be concerned 
therein. 

ARTICLE IV 

Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi 
extends so far to the northward as to be intersected by a 
line to be drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods, 
in the manner mentioned in the treaty of peace between 
His Majesty and the United States: it is agreed that 
measures shall be taken in concert between His Majesty's 
Government in America and the Government of the United 
States, for making a joint survey of the said river from one 
degree of latitude below the falls of St. Anthony, to the 
principal source or sources of the said river, and also of the 
parts adjacent thereto; and that if, on the result of such 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

survey, it should appear that the said river would not be 
intersected by such a line as is above mentioned, the two 
parties will thereupon proceed, by amicable negotiation, to 
regulate the boundary line in that quarter, as well as all 
other points to be adjusted between the said parties, accord- 
ing to justice and mutual convenience and in conformity 
to the intent of the said treaty. 



article v 

Whereas doubts have arisen what river was truly intended 
under the name of the river St. Croix, mentioned in the 
said treaty of peace, and forming a part of the boundary 
therein described; that question shall be referred to the 
final decision of commissioners to be appointed in the fol- 
lowing manner, viz: 

One commissioner shall be named by His Majesty, and 
one by the President of the United States, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the said 
two commissioners shall agree on the choice of a third; or 
if they cannot so agree, they shall each propose one person, 
and of the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by 
lot in the presence of the two original commissioners. And 
the three commissioners so appointed shall be sworn, 
impartially to examine and decide the said question, accord- 
ing to such evidence as shall respectively be laid before 
them on the part of the British Government and of the 
United States. The said commissioners shall meet at Hali- 
fax, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place 
or places as they shall think fit. They shall have power to 
appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors or other 
persons as they shall judge necessary. The said commis- 
sioners shall, by a declaration, under their hands and seals, 
decide what river is the river St. Croix, intended by the treaty. 

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The said declaration shall contain a description of the said 
river, and shall particularize the latitude and longitude of 
its mouth and of its source. Duplicates of this declaration 
and of the statements of their accounts, and of the journal 
of their proceedings, shall be delivered by them to the agent 
of His Majesty, and to the agent of the United States, 
who may be respectively appointed and authorized to man- 
age the business on behalf of the respective Governments. 
And both parties agree to consider such decision as final and 
conclusive, so as that the same shall never thereafter be 
called into question, or made the subject of dispute or differ- 
ence between them. 

ARTICLE VI 

Whereas it is alledged by divers British merchants and 
others His Majesty's subjects, that debts, to a consider- 
able amount, which were bona fide contracted before the 
peace, still remain owing to them by citizens or inhabi- 
tants of the United States, and that by the operation of 
various lawful impediments since the peace, not only the 
full recovery of the said debts has been delayed, but also 
the value and security thereof have been, in several instances, 
impaired and lessened, so that, by the ordinary course of 
judicial proceedings, the British creditors cannot now ob- 
tain, and actually have and receive full and adequate com- 
pensation for the losses and damages which they have 
thereby sustained : It is agreed, that in all such cases, where 
full compensation for such losses and damages cannot, for 
whatever reason, be actually obtained, had and received 
by the said creditors in the ordinary course of justice, the 
United States will make full and complete compensation 
for the same to the said creditors : But it is distinctly under- 
stood, that this provision is to extend to such losses only as 
have been occasioned by the lawful impediments aforesaid, 

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and is not to extend to losses occasioned by such insolvency 
of the debtors or other causes as would equally have oper- 
ated to produce such loss, if the said impediments had not 
existed; nor to such losses or damages as have been 
occasioned by the manifest delay or negligence, or wilful 
omission of the claimant. 

For the purpose of ascertaining the amount of any such 
losses and damages, five commissioners shall be appointed and 
authorized to meet and act in manner following, viz: Two 
of them shall be appointed by His Majesty, two of them 
by the President of the United States by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate thereof, and the fifth by the 
unanimous voice of the other four; and if they should not 
agree in such choice, then the commissioners named by the 
two parties shall respectively propose one person, and of 
the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by lot, in 
the presence of the four original commissioners. When the 
five commissioners thus appointed shall first meet, they 
shall, before they proceed to act, respectively take the fol- 
lowing oath, or affirmation, in the presence of each other; 
which oath, or affirmation, being so taken and duly attested, 
shall be entered on the record of their proceedings, viz: 
I, A. B., one of the commissioners appointed in pursuance 
of the sixth article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and 
Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and the United 
States of America, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
will honestly, diligently, impartially, and carefully examine, 
and to the best of my judgment, according to justice and 
equity, decide all such complaints, as under the said arti- 
cle shall be preferred to the said commissioners: and that 
I will forbear to act as a commissioner, in any case in which 
I may be personally interested. 

Three of the said commissioners shall constitute a board, 
and shall have power to do any act appertaining to the said 

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commission, provided that one of the commissioners named 
on each side, and the fifth commissioner shall be present, 
and all decisions shall be made by the majority of the 
voices of the commissioners then present. Eighteen months 
from the day on which the said commissioners shall form a 
board, and be ready to proceed to business, are assigned for 
receiving complaints and applications ; but they are neverthe- 
less authorized, in any particular cases in which it shall 
appear to them to be reasonable and just, to extend the said 
term of eighteen months, for any term not exceeding six 
months, after the expiration thereof. The said commis- 
sioners shall first meet at Philadelphia, but they shall have 
power to adjourn from place to place as they shall see cause. 

The said commissioners in examining the complaints and 
applications so preferred to them, are empowered and 
required, in pursuance of the true intent and meaning of 
this article, to take into their consideration all claims, 
whether of principal or interest, or balances of principal 
and interest, and to determine the same respectively, accord- 
ing to the merits of the several cases, due regard being had 
to all the circumstances thereof, and as equity and justice 
shall appear to them to require. And the said commis- 
sioners shall have power to examine all such persons as shall 
come before them, on oath or affirmation, touching the 
premises ; and also to receive in evidence, according as they 
may think most consistent with equity and justice, all written 
depositions, or books, or papers, or copies, or extracts 
thereof; every such deposition, book, or paper, or copy, 
or extract, being duly authenticated, either according to 
the legal form now respectively existing in the two countries, 
or in such other manner as the said commissioners shall see 
cause to require or allow. 

The award of the said commissioners, or of any three of 
them as aforesaid, shall in all cases be final and conclusive, 

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both as to the justice of the claim, and to the amount of the 
sum to be paid to the creditor or claimant; and the United 
States undertake to cause the sum so awarded to be paid 
in specie to such creditor or claimant without deduction; 
and at such time or times and at such place or places, as 
shall be awarded by the said commissioners; and on condi- 
tion of such releases or assignments to be given by the 
creditor or claimant, as by the said commissioners may be 
directed: Provided always, that no such payment shall be 
fixed by the said commissioners to take place sooner than 
twelve months from the day of the exchange of the ratifica- 
tions of this treaty. 

ARTICLE VII 

Whereas complaints have been made by divers merchants 
and others, citizens of the United States, that during the 
course of the war in which His Majesty is now engaged, 
they have sustained considerable losses and damage, by 
reason of irregular or illegal captures or condemnations 
of their vessels and other property, under color of authority 
or commissions from His Majesty, and that from various 
circumstances belonging to the said cases, adequate com- 
pensation for the losses and damages so sustained cannot 
now be actually obtained, had, and received by the ordinary 
course of judicial proceedings; it is agreed, that in all such 
cases, where adequate compensation cannot, for whatever 
reason, be now actually obtained, had, and received by the 
said merchants and others, in the ordinary course of justice, 
full and complete compensation for the same will be made 
by the British Government to the said complainants. But 
it is distinctly understood that this provision is not to extend 
to such losses or damages as have been occasioned by the 
manifest delay or negligence, or wilful omission of the 
claimant. 

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That for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of any- 
such losses and damages, five commissioners shall be ap- 
pointed and authorized to act in London, exactly in the 
manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the 
preceding article, and after having taken the same oath 
or affirmation (mutatis mutandis), the same term of eigh- 
teen months is also assigned for the reception of claims, and 
they are in like manner authorized to extend the same in 
particular cases. They shall receive testimony, books, 
papers, and evidence in the same latitude, and exercise the 
like discretion and powers respecting that subject; and shall 
decide the claims in question according to the merits of the 
several cases, and to justice, equity, and the laws of nations. 
The award of the said commissioners, or any such three of 
them as aforesaid, shall in all cases be final and conclusive, 
both as to the justice of the claim, and the amount of the 
sum to be paid to the claimant; and His Britannic Majesty 
undertakes to cause the same to be paid to such claimant in 
specie, without any deduction, at such place or places, and at 
such time or times, as shall be awarded by the said commis- 
sioners, and on condition of such releases or assignments to 
be given by the claimant, as by the said commissioners may be 
directed. 

And whereas certain merchants and others, His Majesty's 
subjects, complain that, in the course of the war, they have 
sustained loss and damage by reason of the capture of their 
vessels and merchandise, taken within the limits and juris- 
diction of the States and brought into the ports of the same, 
or taken by vessels originally armed in ports of the said 
States : 

It is agreed that in all such cases where restitution shall not 
have been made agreeably to the tenor of the letter from Mr. 
Jefferson to Mr. Hammond, dated at Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 
1793, a copy of which is annexed to this treaty; the com- 

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plaints of the parties shall be and hereby are referred to the 
commissioners to be appointed by virtue of this article, who 
are hereby authorized and required to proceed in the like 
manner relative to these as to the other cases committed to 
them; and the United States undertake to pay to the com- 
plainants or claimants in specie, without deduction, the 
amount of such sums as shall be awarded to them respec- 
tively by the said commissioners, and at the times and places 
which in such awards shall be specified; and on condition of 
such releases or assignments to be given by the claimants as 
in the said awards may be directed : And it is further agreed, 
that not only the now-existing cases of both descriptions, 
but also all such as shall exist at the time of exchanging the 
ratifications of this treaty, shall be considered as being within 
the provisions, intent, and meaning of this article. 

ARTICLE VIII 

It is further agreed that the commissioners mentioned in 
this and in the two preceding articles shall be respectively 
paid in such manner as shall be agreed between the two 
parties, such agreement being to be settled at the time of 
the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty. And all other 
expences attending the said commissions shall be defrayed 
jointly by the two parties, the same being previously ascer- 
tained and allowed by the majority of the commissioners. 
And in the case of death, sickness or necessary absence, the 
place of every such commissioner respectively shall be sup- 
plied in the same manner as such commissioner was first 
appointed, and the new commissioners shall take the same 
oath or affirmation and do the same duties. 



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ARTICLE IX 

It is agreed that British subjects who now hold lands in 
the territories of the United States, and American citizens 
who now hold lands in the dominions of His Majesty, shall 
continue to hold them according to the nature and tenure of 
their respective estates and titles therein; and may grant, 
sell, or devise the same to whom they please, in like manner 
as if they were natives ; and that neither they nor their heirs 
or assigns shall, so far as may respect the said lands and 
the legal remedies incident thereto, be regarded as aliens. 

ARTICLE X 

Neither the debts due from individuals of the one nation 
to individuals of the other, nor shares, nor monies, which 
they may have in the public funds, or in the public or private 
banks, shall ever in any event of war or national differences 
be sequestered or confiscated, it being unjust and impolitic 
that debts and engagements contracted and made by indi- 
viduals, having confidence in each other and in their respec- 
tive Governments, should ever be destroyed or impaired by 
national authority on account of national differences and 
discontents. 

ARTICLE XI 

It is agreed between His Majesty and the United States 
of America, that there shall be a reciprocal and entirely per- 
fect liberty of navigation and commerce between their 
respective people, in the manner, under the limitations, and 
on the conditions specified in the following articles. 

ARTICLE XII 

[This article was stricken out by the Senate] 
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ARTICLE XIII 






His Maj esty consents that the vessels belonging to the citi- 
zens of the United States of America shall be admitted and 
hospitably received in all the sea-ports and harbors of the 
British territories in the East Indies. And that the citizens 
of the said United States may freely carry on a trade between 
the said territories and the said United States, in all articles 
of which the importation or exportation respectively, to or 
from the said territories, shall not be entirely prohibited. 
Provided only, that it shall not be lawful for them in any time 
of war between the British Government and any other Power 
or State whatever, to export from the said territories, without 
the special permission of the British Government there, any 
military stores, or naval stores, or rice. The citizens of the 
United States shall pay for their vessels when admitted into 
the said ports no other or higher tonnage duty than shall be 
payable on British vessels when admitted into the ports of 
the United States. And they shall pay no other or higher 
duties or charges, on the importation or exportation of the 
cargoes of the said vessels, than shall be payable on the same 
articles when imported or exported in British vessels. But 
it is expressly agreed that the vessels of the United States 
shall not carry any of the articles exported by them from the 
said British territories to any port or place, except to some 
port or place in America, where the same shall be unladen, 
and such regulations shall be adopted by both parties as 
shall from time to time be found necessary to enforce the 
due and faithful observance of this stipulation. It is also 
understood that the permission granted by this article is not 
to extend to allow the vessels of the United States to carry 
on any part of the coasting trade of the said British terri- 
tories ; but vessels going with their original cargoes, or part 

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thereof, from one port of discharge to another, are not to be 
considered as carrying on the coasting trade. Neither is 
this article to be construed to allow the citizens of the said 
States to settle or reside within the said territories, or to go 
into the interior parts thereof, without the permission of the 
British Government established there; and if any trans- 
gression should be attempted against the regulations of the 
British Government in this respect, the observance of the 
same shall and may be enforced against the citizens of 
America in the same manner as against British subjects or 
others transgressing the same rule. And the citizens of the 
United States, whenever they arrive in any port or harbour 
in the said territories, or if they should be permitted, in 
manner aforesaid, to go to any other place therein, shall 
always be subject to the laws, government, and jurisdiction 
of what nature established in such harbor, port, or place, 
according as the same may be. The citizens of the United 
States may also touch for refreshment at the island of St. 
Helena, but subject in all respects to such regulations as 
the British Government may from time to time establish 
there. 

ARTICLE xiv 

There shall be between all the dominions of His Majesty 
in Europe and the territories of the United States a recipro- 
cal and perfect liberty of commerce and navigation. The 
people and inhabitants of the two countries, respectively, 
shall have liberty, freely and securely, and without hindrance 
and molestation, to come with their ships and cargoes to 
the lands, countries, cities, ports, places, and rivers within 
the dominions and territories aforesaid, to enter into the 
same, to resort there, and to remain and reside -there, without 
any limitation of time. Also to hire and possess houses and 
warehouses for the purposes of their commerce, and gener- 

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ally the merchants and traders on each side shall enjoy the 
most complete protection and security for their commerce; 
but subj ect always as to what respects this article to the laws 
and statutes of the two countries respectively. 



ARTICLE XV 

It is agreed that no other or higher duties shall be paid 
by the ships or merchandize of the one party in the ports 
of the other than such as are paid by the like vessels or 
merchandize of all other nations. Nor shall any other or 
higher duty be imposed in one country on the importation 
of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the 
other, than are or shall be payable on the importation of 
the like articles being of the growth, produce, or manufac- 
ture of any other foreign country. Nor shall any prohibition 
be imposed on the exportation or importation of any articles 
to or from the territories of the two parties respectively, 
which shall not equally extend to all other nations. 

But the British Government reserves to itself the right 
of imposing on American vessels entering into the British 
ports in Europe a tonnage duty equal to that which shall be 
payable by British vessels in the ports of America ; and also 
such duty as may be adequate to countervail the difference of 
duty now payable on the importation of European and 
Asiatic goods, when imported into the United States in 
British or in American vessels. 

The two parties agree to treat for the more exact equaliza- 
tion of the duties on the respective navigation of their sub- 
jects and people, in such manner as may be most beneficial 
to the two countries. The arrangements for this purpose 
shall be made at the same time with those mentioned at the 
conclusion of the twelfth article of this treaty, and are to be 
considered as a part thereof. In the interval it is agreed 

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that the United States will not impose any new or additional 
tonnage duties on British vessels, nor increase the now- 
subsisting difference between the duties payable on the 
importation of any articles in British or in American vessels. 



ARTICLE XVI 

It shall be free for the two contracting parties, respec- 
tively, to appoint Consuls for the protection of trade, to 
reside in the dominions and territories aforesaid; and the 
said Consuls shall enjoy those liberties and rights which 
belong to them by reason of their function. But before any 
Consul shall act as such, he shall be in the usual forms 
approved and admitted by the party to whom he is sent ; and 
it is hereby declared to be lawful and proper that, in case 
of illegal or improper conduct towards the laws or Govern- 
ment, a Consul may either be punished according to law, if 
the laws will reach the case, or be dismissed, or even sent 
back, the offended Government assigning to the other their 
reasons for the same. 

Either of the parties may except from the residence of 
Consuls such particular places as such party shall judge 
proper to be so excepted. 

ARTICLE XVII 

It is agreed that in all cases where vessels shall be cap- 
tured or detained on just suspicion of having on board 
enemy's property, or of carrying to the enemy any of the 
articles which are contraband of war, the said vessel shall 
be brought to the nearest or most convenient port; and if 
any property of an enemy should be found on board such 
vessel, that part only which belongs to the enemy shall be 
made prize, and the vessel shall be at liberty to proceed 

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with the remainder without any impediment. And it is 
agreed that all proper measures shall be taken to prevent 
delay in deciding the cases of ships or cargoes so brought in 
for adjudication, and in the payment or recovery of any 
indemnification, adjudged or agreed to be paid to the masters 
or owners of such ships. 

ARTICLE XVIII 

In order to regulate what is in future to be esteemed 
contraband of war, it is agreed that under the said denom- 
ination shall be comprised all arms and implements serving 
for the purposes of war, by land or sea, such as cannon, 
muskets, mortars, petards, bombs, grenades, carcasses, sau- 
cisses, carriages for cannon, musket-rests, bandoliers, gun- 
powder, match, saltpetre, ball, pikes, swords, head-pieces, 
cuirasses, halberts, lances, javelins, horse-furniture, holsters, 
belts, and generally all other implements of war, as also 
timber for ship-building, tar or rosin, copper in sheets, sails, 
hemp, and cordage, and generally whatever may serve 
directly to the equipment of vessels, unwrought iron and 
fir planks only excepted ; and all the above articles are hereby 
declared to be just objects of confiscation whenever they are 
attempted to be carried to an enemy. 

And whereas the difficulty of agreeing on the precise cases 
in which alone provisions and other articles not generally 
contraband may be regarded as such, renders it expedient 
to provide against the inconveniences and misunderstandings 
which might thence arise: It is further agreed that when- 
ever any such articles so becoming contraband, according 
to the existing laws of nations, shall for that reason be 
seized, the same shall not be confiscated, but the owners 
thereof shall be speedily and completely indemnified; and 
the captors, or, in their default, the Government under 

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whose authority they act, shall pay to the masters or owners 
of such vessels the full value of all such articles, with a rea- 
sonable mercantile profit thereon, together with the freight, 
and also the demurrage incident to such detention. 

And whereas it frequently happens that vessels sail for 
a port or place belonging to an enemy without knowing that 
the same is either besieged, blockaded, or invested, it is 
agreed that every vessel so circumstanced may be turned 
away from such port or place ; but she shall not be detained, 
nor her cargo, if not contraband, be confiscated, unless after 
notice she shall again attempt to enter, but she shall be 
permitted to go to any other port or place she may think 
proper; nor shall any vessel or goods of either party that 
may have entered into such port or place before the same 
was besieged, blockaded, or invested by the other, and be 
found therein after the reduction or surrender of such place, 
be liable to confiscation, but shall be restored to the owners 
or proprietors thereof. 

ARTICLE XIX 

And that more abundant care may be taken for the secur- 
ity of the respective subjects and citizens of the contracting 
parties, and to prevent their suffering injuries by the men-of- 
war, or privateers of either party, all commanders of ships 
of war and privateers, and all others the said subjects and 
citizens, shall forbear doing any damage to those of the 
other party or committing any outrage against them, and 
if they act to the contrary they shall be punished, and shall 
also be bound in their persons and estates to make satisfac- 
tion and reparation for all damages, and the interest thereof, 
of whatever nature the said damages may be. 

For this cause, all commanders of privateers, before they 
receive their commissions, shall hereafter be obliged to give, 

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before a competent judge, sufficient security by at least two 
responsible sureties, who have no interest in the said priva- 
teer, each of whom, together with the said commander, shall 
be j ointly and severally bound in the sum of fifteen hundred 
pounds sterling, or, if such ships be provided with above one 
hundred and fifty seamen or soldiers, in the sum of three 
thousand pounds sterling, to satisfy all damages and injuries 
which the said privateer, or her officers or men, or any of 
them, may do or commit during their cruise contrary to the 
tenor of this treaty, or to the laws and instructions for regu- 
lating their conduct ; and further, that in all cases of aggres- 
sions the said commissions shall be revoked and annulled. 

It is also agreed that whenever a judge of a court of 
admiralty of either of the parties shall pronounce sentence 
against any vessel or goods or property belonging to the 
subjects or citizens of the other party, a formal and duly 
authenticated copy of all the proceedings in the cause, and 
of the said sentence, shall, if required, be delivered to the 
commander of the said vessel, without the smallest delay, he 
paying all legal fees and demands for the same. 



ARTICLE xx 

It is further agreed that both the said contracting parties 
shall not only refuse to receive any pirates into any of their 
ports, havens, or towns, or permit any of their inhabitants 
to receive, protect, harbor, conceal, or assist them in any 
manner, but will bring to condign punishment all such inhab- 
itants as shall be guilty of such acts or offences. 

And all their ships, with the goods or merchandizes taken 
by them and brought into the port of either of the said 
parties, shall be seized as far as they can be discovered, and 
shall be restored to the owners, or their factors or agents, 
duly deputed and authorized in writing by them (proper 

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evidence being first given in the court of admiralty for prov- 
ing the property) even in case such effects should have 
passed into other hands by sale, if it be proved that the 
buyers knew or had good reason to believe or suspect that 
they had been piratically taken. 



ARTICLE XXI 

It is likewise agreed that the subjects and citizens of the 
two nations shall not do any acts of hostility or violence 
against each other, nor accept commissions or instructions 
so to act from any foreign Prince or State, enemies to the 
other party; nor shall the enemies of one of the parties be 
permitted to invite, or endeavor to enlist in their military 
service, any of the subjects or citizens of the other party; 
and the laws against all such offences and aggressions shall 
be punctually executed. And if any subject or citizen of 
the said parties respectively shall accept any foreign com- 
mission or letters of marque for arming any vessel to act 
as a privateer against the other party, and be taken by the 
other party, it is hereby declared to be lawful for the said 
party to treat and punish the said subject or citizen having 
such commission or letters of marque as a pirate. 



ARTICLE XXII 

It is expressly stipulated that neither of the said contract- 
ing parties will order or authorize any acts of reprisal against 
the other, on complaints of injuries or damages, until the said 
party shall first have presented to the other a statement 
thereof, verified by competent proof and evidence, and 
demanded justice and satisfaction, and the same shall either 
have been refused or unreasonably delayed. 

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ARTICLE XXIII 



The ships of war of each of the contracting parties shall, 
at all times, be hospitably received in the ports of the other, 
their officers and crews paying due respect to the laws and 
Government of the country. The officers shall be treated 
with that respect which is due to the commissions which they 
bear, and if any insult should be offered to them by any of 
the inhabitants, all offenders in this respect shall be punished 
as disturbers of the peace and amity between the two coun- 
tries. And His Majesty consents that in case an American 
vessel should, by stress of weather, danger from enemies, 
or other misfortune, be reduced to the necessity of seeking 
shelter in any of His Majesty's ports, into which such vessel 
could not in ordinary cases claim to be admitted, she shall, 
on manifesting that necessity to the satisfaction of the 
Government of the place, be hospitably received, and be per- 
mitted to refit and to purchase at the market price such neces- 
saries as she may stand in need of, conformably to such 
orders and regulations as the Government of the place, 
having respect to the circumstances of each case, shall pre- 
scribe. She shall not be allowed to break bulk or unload her 
cargo, unless the same should be bona fide necessary to her 
being refitted. Nor shall be permitted to sell any part of 
her cargo, unless so much only as may be necessary to defray 
her expences, and then not without the express permission 
of the Government of the place. Nor shall she be obliged to 
pay any duties whatever, except only on such articles as she 
may be permitted to sell for the purpose aforesaid. 



ARTICLE XXIV 



It shall not be lawful for any foreign privateers (not being 
subjects or citizens of either of the said parties) who have 

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commissions from any other Prince or State in enmity with 
either nation to arm their ships in the ports of either of the 
said parties, nor to sell what they have taken, nor in any 
other manner to exchange the same ; nor shall they be allowed 
to purchase more provisions than shall be necessary for their 
going to the nearest port of that Prince or State from whom 
they obtained their commissions. 

ARTICLE XXV 

It shall be lawful for the ships of war and privateers 
belonging to the said parties respectively to carry whitherso- 
ever they please the ships and goods taken from their 
enemies, without being obliged to pay any fee to the officers 
of the admiralty, or to any judges whatever; nor shall the 
said prizes, when they arrive at and enter the ports of the said 
parties, be detained or seized, neither shall the searchers or 
other officers of those places visit such prizes, (except for 
the purpose of preventing the carrying of any part of the 
cargo thereof on shore in any manner contrary to the estab- 
lished laws of revenue, navigation, or commerce,) nor shall 
such officers take cognizance of the validity of such prizes; 
but they shall be at liberty to hoist sail and depart as speedily 
as may be, and carry their said prizes to the place mentioned 
in their commissions or patents, which the commanders of 
the said ships of war or privateers shall be obliged to show. 
No shelter or refuge shall be given in their ports to such as 
have made a prize upon the subjects or citizens of either 
of the said parties; but if forced by stress of weather, or 
the dangers of the sea, to enter therein, particular care shall 
be taken to hasten their departure, and to cause them to retire 
as soon as possible. Nothing in this treaty contained shall, 
however, be construed or operate contrary to former and 
existing public treaties with other sovereigns or States. But 

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the two parties agree that while they continue in amity 
neither of them will in future make any treaty that shall 
be inconsistent with this or the preceding article. 

Neither of the said parties shall permit the ships or goods 
belonging to the subjects or citizens of the other to be taken 
within cannon shot of the coast, nor in any of the bays, ports, 
or rivers of their territories, by ships of war or others having 
commission from any Prince, Republic, or State whatever. 
But in case it should so happen, the party whose territorial 
rights shall thus have been violated shall use his utmost 
endeavors to obtain from the offending party full and ample 
satisfaction for the vessel or vessels so taken, whether the 
same be vessels of war or merchant vessels. 



ARTICLE XXVI 

If at any time a rupture should take place (which God 
forbid) between His Majesty and the United States, the 
merchants and others of each of the two nations residing 
in the dominions of the other shall have the privilege of 
remaining and continuing their trade, so long as they behave 
peaceably and commit no offence against the laws; and in 
case their conduct should render them suspected, and the 
respective Governments should think proper to order them 
to remove, the term of twelve months from the publication 
of the order shall be allowed them for that purpose, to remove 
with their families, effects, and property, but this favor shall 
not be extended to those who shall act contrary to the estab- 
lished laws ; and for greater certainty, it is declared that such 
rupture shall not be deemed to exist while negotiations for 
accommodating differences shall be depending, nor until the 
respective Ambassadors or Ministers, if such there shall be, 
shall be recalled or sent home on account of such differences, 
and not on account of personal misconduct, according to the 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

nature and degrees of which both parties retain their rights, 
either to request the recall, or immediately to send home the 
Ambassador or Minister of the other, and that without preju- 
dice to their mutual and good understanding. 



ARTICLE XXVII 

It is further agreed that His Majesty and the United 
States, on mutual requisitions, by them respectively, or by 
their respective Ministers or officers authorized to make the 
same, will deliver up to justice all persons who, being 
charged with murder or forgery, committed within the juris- 
diction of either, shall seek an asylum within any of the 
countries of the other, provided that this shall only be done 
on such evidence of criminality as, according to the laws of 
the place, where the fugitive or person so charged shall 
be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment 
for trial, if the offence had there been committed. The 
expence of such apprehension and delivery shall be borne 
and defrayed by those who make the requisition and receive 
the fugitive. 

ARTICLE XXVIII 

It is agreed that the first ten articles of this treaty shall 
be permanent, and that the subsequent articles, except the 
twelfth, shall be limited in their duration to twelve years, 
to be computed from the day on which the ratifications of this 
treaty shall be exchanged, but subject to this condition, That 
whereas the said twelfth article will expire by the limitation 
therein contained, at the end of two years from the signing 
of the preliminary or other articles of peace, which shall 
terminate the present war in which His Majesty is engaged, 
it is agreed that proper measures shall by concert be taken 
for bringing the subject of that article into amicable treaty 

155 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and discussion, so early before the expiration of the said 
term as that new arrangements on that head may by that 
time be perfected and ready to take place. But if it should 
unfortunately happen that His Majesty and the United 
States should not be able to agree on such new arrange- 
ments, in that case all the articles of this treaty, except the 
first ten, shall then cease and expire together. 

Lastly. This treaty, when the same shall have been rati- 
fied by His Majesty and by the President of the United 
States, by and with the advice and consent of their Senate, 
and the respective ratifications mutually exchanged, shall 
be binding and obligatory on His Majesty and on the said 
States, and shall be by them respectively executed and 
observed with punctuality and the most sincere regard to 
good faith; and whereas it will be expedient, in order the 
better to facilitate intercourse and obviate difficulties, that 
other articles be proposed and added to this treaty, which 
articles, from want of time and other circumstances, cannot 
now be perfected, it is agreed that the said parties will, 
from time to time, readily treat of and concerning such 
articles, and will sincerely endeavor so to form them as 
that they may conduce to mutual convenience and tend to 
promote mutual satisfaction and friendship; and that the 
said articles, after having been duly ratified, shall be added 
to and make a part of this treaty. In faith whereof we, 
the undersigned Ministers Plenipotentiary of His Majesty 
the King of Great Britain and the United States of America, 
have signed this present treaty, and have caused to be affixed 
thereto the seal of our arms. 

Done at London this nineteenth day of November, one 
thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. 

Grenville [l. s.] 
John Jay [l. s.] 



156 



Washington's Farewell Address 1796 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 

The period for a new election of a Citizen, to admin- 
ister the Executive Government of the United States, being 
not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your 
thoughts must be employed in designating the person, who 
is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me 
proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct ex- 
pression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you 
of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered 
among the number of those, out of whom a choice is to be 
made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be 
assured, that this resolution has not been taken, without 
a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the 
relation, which binds a dutiful citizen to his country — and 
that, in withdrawing the tender of service which silence in 
my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminu- 
tion of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grate- 
ful respect for your past kindness ; but am supported by a 
full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office 
to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been 
a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, 
and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. — 
I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in 
my power, consistently with motives, which I was not at 
liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement, from 
which I had been reluctantly drawn. — The strength of my 
inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had 
even led to the preparation of an address to declare 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and 
critical posture of our affairs with foreign Nations, and 
the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, 
impelled me to abandon the idea. — 

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as 
well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclina- 
tion incompatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety; 
and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for 
my services, that, in the present circumstances of our 
country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impressions, with which I first undertook the ardu- 
ous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the 
discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with 
good intentions, contributed towards the organization and 
administration of the government, the best exertions of 
which a very fallible judgment was capable. — Not uncon- 
scious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, 
experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes 
of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of my- 
self; and every day the increasing weight of years admon- 
ishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as 
necessary to me as it will be welcome.-/-Satisfied, that, if 
any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, 
they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, 
while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political 
scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to 
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not 
permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that 
debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country, — 
for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more 
for the stedfast confidence with which it has supported me; 
and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of mani- 
festing my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. — If \ 
benefits have resulted to our country from these services, 
let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an in- 
structive example in our annals, that under circumstances 
in which the Passions, agitated in every direction, were 
liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, 
vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in 
which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced 
the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was 
the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the 
plans by which they were effected. — Profoundly penetrated 
with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a 
strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may con- 
tinue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence — that 
your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual — that 
the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may 
be sacredly maintained — that its administration in every de- 
partment may be stamped with wisdom and virtue — that, in 
fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the 
auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful 
a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will 

yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. — But a solicitude for 
your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the 
apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me 
on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn con- 
templation, and to recommend to your frequent review, 
some sentiments; which are the result of much reflection, 
of no inconsiderable observation and which appear to me 
all important to the permanency of your felicity as a Peo- 
ple. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, 
as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of 

159 



acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the ap- h^ 
plause, the affection, and adoption of every nation, which is ||* 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive 
to bias his counsel. — Nor can I forget, as an encourage- 
ment to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a 
former and not dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament 
of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary 
to fortify or confirm the attachment. — 

The Unity of Government, which constitutes you one peo- 
ple, is also now dear to you. — It is justly so; for it is a 
main Pillar in the Edifice of your real independence; the 
support of your tranquillity at home; your peace abroad; 
of your safety; of your prosperity in every shape; of that 
very Liberty, which you so highly prize. — But as it is easy 
to foresee, that, from different causes, and from different 
quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices em- 
ployed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this 
truth ; — as this is the point in your political fortress against 
which the batteries of internal and external enemies will 
be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and 
insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you 
should properly estimate the immense value of your na- 
tional Union to your collective and individual happiness; — 
that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immove- 
able attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and 
speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and 
prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous 
anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a sus- 
picion, that it can in any event be abandoned, and indig- 
nantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt 
to alienate any portion of our Country from the rest, or to 
enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various 
parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and 
interest. — Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

that country has a right to concentrate your affections. — 
The name of American, which belongs to you, in your na- 
tional capacity, must always exalt the just pride of 
Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local 
discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have 
the same Religion, Manners, Habits, and Political Prin- 
ciples. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed 
together ; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the 
work of joint counsels, and joint efforts — of common dan- 
gers, sufferings, and successes. — 

But these considerations, however powerfully they ad- 
dress themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed 
by those which apply more immediately to your Interest. 
Here every portion of our country finds the most command- 
ing motives for carefully guarding and preserving the 
Union of the whole. 

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, 
protected by the equal Laws of a common government, finds, 
in the productions of the latter, great additional resources 
of maritime and commercial enterprise — and precious ma- 
terials of manufacturing industry. — The South, in the same 
intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its 
agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly 
into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its 
particular navigation envigorated ;— and, while it contrib- 
utes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general 
mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the 
protection of a maritime strength to which itself is un- 
equally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the 
West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement 
of interior communications, by land and water, will more 
and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which 
it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. — The West 
derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and 

161 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

comfort, and — what is perhaps of still greater consequence, 
it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispen- 
sable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, 
and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the 
Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest 
as one Nation. — Any other tenure by which the West can 
hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own 
separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural con- 
nection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically pre- 
carious. 

While then every part of our Country thus feels an im- 
mediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts com- 
bined in the united mass of means and efforts cannot fail 
to find greater strength, greater resource, proportionably 
greater security from external danger, a lesjs frequent in- 
terruption of their Peace by foreign Nations; and, what 
is of inestimable value! they must derive from Union an 
exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, 
which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries, not tied 
together by the same governments; which their own rival- 
ships alone would be sufficient to produce; but which op- 
posite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would 
stimulate and embitter. — Hence likewise they will avoid the 
necessity of those overgrown Military establishments, 
which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to 
liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile 
to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, that your Union 
ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and 
that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preserva- 
tion of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to 
every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the contin- 
uance of the Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. 
Is there a doubt, whether a common government can em- 

162 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

brace so large a sphere ? — Let experience solve it. To listen 
to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. — We are 
authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, 
with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective 
subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. 
It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such 
powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts 
of our country, while experience shall not have demon- 
strated its impracticability, there will always be reason to 
distrust the patriotism of those, who in any quarter may 
endeavour to weaken its bands. — 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our 
Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any 
ground should have been furnished for characterizing 
parties by geographical discriminations — Northern and 
Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men 
may endeavour to excite a belief, that there is a real dif- 
ference of local interests and views. One of the expedi- 
ents of Party to acquire influence, within particular dis- 
tricts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other 
districts. — You cannot shield yourselves too much against 
the jealousies and heart burnings, which spring from these 
misrepresentations; — they tend to render alien to each 
other those, who ought to be bound together by fraternal 
affection. — The inhabitants of our Western country have 
lately had a useful lesson on this head — they have seen, in 
the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous 
ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in 
the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the 
United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the 
suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the Gen- 
eral Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to 
their interests in regard to the Mississippi — they have been 
witnesses to the formation of two Treaties, that with G. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every 
thing they could desire, in respect to our Foreign Relations, 
towards confirming their prosperity. — Will it not be their 
wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on 
the Union by which they were procured? — Will they not 
henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who 
would sever them from their Brethren, and connect them 
with Aliens? — 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Gov- 
ernment for the whole is indispensable. — No alliances, 
however strict between the parts can be an adequate sub- 
stitute. — They must inevitably experience the infractions 
and interruptions which all alliances in all times have ex- 
perienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have 
improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Con- 
stitution of Government, better calculated than your former 
for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management 
of your common concerns. — This government, the offspring 
of our own choice uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon 
full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free 
in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting 
security with energy, and containing within itself a pro- 
vision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your con- 
fidence and your support. — Respect for its authority, com- 
pliance with its Laws, acquiescence in its measures, are 
duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. 
— The basis of our political systems is the right of the peo- 
ple to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. 
— But the Constitution which at any time exists, 'till 
changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole Peo- 
ple, is sacredly obligatory upon all. — The very idea of the 
power and the right of the People to establish Government 
presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the estab- 
lished Government. 

164 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combi- 
nations and associations, under whatever plausible char- 
acter, with the real design to direct, controul, counteract, 
or awe the regular deliberation and action of the consti- 
tuted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental prin- 
ciple, and of fatal tendency. — They serve to organize 
faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force — to 
put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will 
of a party; — often a small but artful and enterprising 
minority of the community ; — and, according to the alternate 
triumphs of different parties, to make the public admin- 
istration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous 
projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and 
wholesome plans digested by common councils, and modified 
by mutual interests. — However combinations or associations 
of the above descriptions may now and then answer popular 
ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to 
become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and 
unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the Power of 
the People, and to usurp for themselves the reins of Gov- 
ernment; destroying afterwards the very engines, which 
have lifted them to unjust dominion. — 

Towards the preservation of your Government, and the 
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not 
only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions 
to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with 
care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however 
specious the pretexts. — One method of assault may be to 
effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which 
will impair the energy of the system, and thus to under- 
mine what cannot be directly overthrown. — In all the 
changes to which you may be invited, remember that time 
and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character 
of Governments, as of other human institutions — that ex- 

165 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



. 



perience is the surest standard, by which to test the real 
tendency of the existing Constitution of a Country — that 
facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and 
opinion exposes to perpetual change, from the endless va- 
riety of hypothesis and opinion : — and remember, especially, 
that, for the efficient management of your common interests, 
in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much 
vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of Liberty 
is indispensable. — Liberty itself will find in such a gov- 
ernment, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, 
its surest Guardian. — It is, indeed, little else than a name, 
where the Government is too feeble to withstand the enter- 
prise of faction, to confine each member of the society 
within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain 
all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of 
person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties 
in the State, with particular reference to the founding of 
them on Geographical discriminations. — Let me now take 
a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most 
solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of 
Party, generally. 

This Spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our na- 
ture, having its root in the strongest passions of the hu- 
man mind. — It exists under different shapes in all Govern- 
ments, more or less stifled, controuled, or repressed; but, 
in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rank- 
ness, and is truly their worst enemy. — 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, 
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissen- 
sion, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated 
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. 
— But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent 
despotism. — The disorders and miseries, which result, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and re- 
pose in the absolute power of an Individual; and sooner or 
later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or 
more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition 
to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public 
Liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, 
(which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), 
the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of Party 
are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise 
people to discourage and restrain it. — 

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and en- 
feeble the Public administration. It agitates the com- 
munity with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles 
the animosity of one part against another, foments occa- 
sionally riot and insurrection. — It opens the door to 
foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated 
access to the Government itself through the channels of 
party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one coun- 
try, are subjected to the policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are 
useful checks upon the Administration of the Government, 
and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. — This within 
certain limits is probably true — and in Governments of a 
Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if 
not with favor, upon the spirit of party. — But in those of 
the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is 
a spirit not to be encouraged. — From their natural tendency, 
it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for 
every salutary purpose, — and there being constant danger 
of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, 
to mitigate and assuage it. — A fire not to be quenched; it 
demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into 
a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

167 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in 
a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted 
with its administration, to confine themselves within their 
respective constitutional spheres; avoiding in the exercise 
of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. 
The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers 
of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever 
the form of government, a real despotism. — A just esti- 
mate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, 
which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to sat- 
isfy us of the truth of this position. — The necessity of re- 
ciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by divid- 
ing and distributing it into different depositories, and con- 
stituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against in- 
vasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments 
ancient and modern ; some of them in our country and under 
our own eyes. — To preserve them must be as necessary as to 
institute them. If, in the opinion of the People, the dis- 
tribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in 
any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment 
in the way which the constitution designates. — But let there 
be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one in- 
stance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary 
weapon by which free governments are destroyed. — The 
precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent 
evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at 
any time yield. — 
r Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political 
prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable sup- 
ports. — In vain would that man claim the tribute of 
Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars 
of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of 
Men and Citizens. — The mere Politician, equally with the 
pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. — A 

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volume could not trace all their connexions with private 
and public felicity. — Let it simply be asked where is the 
security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense 
of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the in- 
struments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let 
us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can I 
be maintained without religion. — Whatever may be con- 
ceded to the influence of refined education on minds of pe- 
culiar structure — reason and experience both forbid us to 
expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of 
religious principle. — 

'T is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a 
necessary spring of popular government. — The rule in- 
deed extends with more or less force to every species of 
Free Government. — Who that is a sincere friend to it can 
look with indifference upon attempts to shake the founda- 
tion of the fabric? — 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, in- 
stitutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In pro- 
portion as the structure of a government gives force to 
public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should 
be enlightened. — 

As a very important source of strength and security, 
cherish public credit. — One method of preserving it is, to 
use it as sparingly as possible: — avoiding occasions of ex- 
pense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that 
timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently pre- 
vent much greater disbursements to repel it — avoiding like- 
wise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occa- 
sions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace 
to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have 
occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the 
burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution 
of these maxims belongs to your Representatives, but it is 

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necessary that public opinion should cooperate. — To facili- 
tate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential 
that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the 
payment of debts there must be Revenue — that to have 
Revenue there must be taxes — that no taxes can be devised, 
which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant — 
that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the se- 
lection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of 
difficulties) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid con- 
struction of the conduct of the Government in making it, and 
for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining 
Revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dic- 
tate. — 

J Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations. 

; Cultivate peace and harmony with all. — Religion and 
Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good 
policy does not equally enjoin it? — It will be worthy of a 
free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, 
to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel ex- 
ample of a People always guided by an exalted justice and 

s benevolence. — Who can doubt that in the course of time 
and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay 
any temporary advantages, which might be lost by a steady 
adherence to it? Can it be that Providence has not con- 
nected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue? 
The experiment, at least, is recommended by every senti- 
ment which ennobles human nature. — Alas ! is it rendered 
impossible by its vices? 

In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential 
than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against par- 
ticular nations and passionate attachments for others, 
should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and 
amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. — The 
Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred 

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or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a 
slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is 
sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. — 
Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more 
readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight 
causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, 
when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. — 
Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed and bloody 
contests. — The Nation prompted by ill-will and resent- 
ment, sometimes impels to War the Government, contrary 
to the best calculations of policy. — The Government some- 
times participates in the national propensity, and adopts 
through passion what reason would reject; — at other times, 
it makes the animosity of the Nation subservient to proj- 
ects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other 
sinister and pernicious motives. — The peace often, some- 
times perhaps the Liberty, of Nations has been the 
victim. — 

So likewise a passionate attachment of one Nation for 
another produces a variety of evils. — Sympathy for the 
favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary 
common interest in cases where no real common interest 
exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, be- 
trays the former into a participation in the quarrels and 
wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justi- 
fication. It leads also to concessions to the favorite Nation 
of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure 
the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily part- 
ing with what ought to have been retained; and by excit- 
ing jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the 
parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it 
gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, (who de- 
vote themselves to the favorite Nation) facility to betray 
or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

odium, sometimes even with popularity: — gilding, with the 
appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commend- 
able deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for 
public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, 
corruption, or infatuation. — 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, 
such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly 
enlightened and independent Patriot. — How many oppor- 
tunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to 
practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to 
influence or awe the public councils ! Such an attachment 
of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, 
dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. 
"""Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, I con- 
jure you to believe me, "Fellow-citizens, the jealousy of a 
free people ought to be constantly awake; since history 
and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the 
most baneful foes of republican Government. — But that 
jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes 
the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead 
of a defense against it. — Excessive partiality for one 
foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those 
whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and 
serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the 
other. Real Patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the 
favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while 
its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of 
the people, to surrender their interests. — 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign 
Nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have 
with them as little Political connection as possible. — So far 
as we have already formed engagements, let them be ful- 
filled with perfect good faith. — Here let us stop. — 

Europe has a set of urimary interests, which to us have 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

none, or a very remote relation. — Hence she must be en- 
gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are 
essentially foreign to our concerns. — Hence, therefore, it 
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial 
ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordi- 
nary combinations and collisions of her friendships, or 
enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables 
us to pursue a different course. — If we remain one People, 
under an efficient government, the period is not far off, 
when we may defy material injury from external annoy- 
ance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the 
neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupu- 
lously respected. When belligerent nations, under the 
impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not 
lightly hazard the giving us provocation when we may 
choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by our justice, 
shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? — 
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? — Why, 
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of 
Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of 
European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? — 

'T is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alli- 
ances, with any portion of the foreign world; — so far, I 
mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; — for let me not be 
understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing 
engagements. (I hold the maxim no less applicable to 
public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the 
best policy.) — I repeat it therefore let those engagements 
be observed in their genuine sense. — But in my opinion it is 
unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. — 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estab- 
lishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emer- 
gencies. — 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom- 
mended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our 
commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand : 
— neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or prefer- 
ences; — consulting the natural course of things; — diffusing 
and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, 
but forcing nothing; — establishing with Powers so disposed 
— in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights 
of our Merchants, and to enable the Government to sup- 
port them — conventional rules of intercourse, the best that 
present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit; but 
temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or 
varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; con- 
stantly keeping in view, that 't is folly in one nation to look 
for disinterested favors from another; — that it must pay 
with a portion of its independence for whatever it may 
accept under that character — that by such acceptance, it 
may place itself in the condition of having given equiva- 
lents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with 
ingratitude for not giving more. — There can be no greater 
error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from 
Nation to Nation. 'T is an illusion, which experience must 
cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 

In offering to you, my Countrymen, these counsels of an 
old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make 
the strong and lasting impression, I could wish, — that they 
will controul the usual current of the passions, or prevent 
our Nation from running the course which has hitherto 
marked the destiny of Nations. But if I may even flatter 
myself, that they may be productive of some partial bene- 
fit; some occasional good; that they may now and then 
recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the im- 
postures of pretended patriotism, this hope will be a full 
recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which 
they have been dictated. — 

How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have 
been guided by the principles which have been delineated, 
the public Records and other evidences of my conduct must 
witness to You and to the world. — To myself the assurance 
of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed my- 
self to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting War in Europe, my 
Proclamation of the 22d of April 1793 is the index to my 
plan. — Sanctioned by your approving voice and by that of 
your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit 
of that measure has continually governed me: — uninflu- 
enced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination with the aid of the best 
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, 
under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to 
take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a Neutral 
position. — Having taken it, I determined, as far as should 
depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, persever- 
ance, and firmness. — 

The considerations which respect the right to hold this 
conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will 
only observe, that, according to my understanding of the 
matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the 
Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all. — 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, 
without any thing more, from the obligation which justice 
and humanity impose on every Nation, in cases in which 
it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of Peace 
and Amity towards other Nations. — 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. 
— With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour 
to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet 
recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to 
that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary 
jto give it, , humanly speaking, the command of its own 
fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my Administra- 
tion, I am unconscious of intentional error — I am neverthe- 
less too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that 
I may have committed many errors. — Whatever they may 
be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate 
the evils to which they may tend. — I shall also carry with 
me the hope that my country will never cease to view them 
with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life 
dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of 
incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as my- 
self must soon be to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and 
actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural 
to a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his 
progenitors for several generations; — I anticipate with 
pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise my- 
self to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of par- 
taking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign in- 
fluence of good Laws under a free Government, the ever 
favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I 
trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 



176 



Treaty with France 1803 

Treaty with France for the Cession of Louisiana, Con- 
cluded at Paris April 30, 1803; Ratification Advised by 
Senate October 20, 1803; Ratified by President October 21, 
1803; Ratifications Exchanged at Washington October 21, 
1803; Proclaimed October 21, 1803. 

The President of the United States of America, and the 
First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the 
French people, desiring to remove all source of misunder- 
standing relative to objects of discussion mentioned in the 
second and fifth articles of the convention of the 8th Ven- 
demiaire, an 9 (30th September, 1800) relative to the rights 
claimed by the United States, in virtue of the treaty con- 
cluded at Madrid, the 27th of October, 1795, between His 
Catholic Majesty and the said United States, and willing 
to strengthen the union and friendship which at the time of 
the said convention was happily re-established between the 
two nations, have respectively named their Plenipotentiaries, 
to wit: the President of the United States, [of America,] by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the said 
States, Robert R. Livingston, Minister Plenipotentiary of 
the United States, and James Monroe, Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary and Envoy Extraordinary of the said States, near the 
Government of the French Republic; and the First Consul, 
in the name of the French people, Citizen Francis Barbe 
Marbois, Minister of the Public Treasury ; who, after having 
respectively exchanged their full powers, have agreed to the 
following articles: 

ARTICLE I 

Whereas by the article the third of the treaty concluded 
at St. Idelfonso, the 9th Vendemiaire, an 9 (1st October, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

1800,) between the First Consul of the French Republic and 
His Catholic Majesty, it was agreed as follows: "His 
Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part, to cede 
to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire 
execution of the conditions and stipulations herein relative 
to His Royal Highness the Duke of Parma, the colony or 
province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has 
in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed 
it, and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently 
entered into between Spain and other States." And whereas, 
in pursuance of the treaty, and particularly of the third arti- 
cle, the French Republic has an incontestable title to the 
domain and to the possession of the said territory: The 
First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to the 
United States a strong proof of his friendship, doth hereby 
cede to the said United States, in the name of the French 
Republic, forever and in full sovereignty, the said territory, 
with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the 
same manner as they have been acquired by the French 
Republic, in virtue of the above-mentioned treaty, concluded 
with His Catholic Majesty. 

ARTICLE II 

In the cession made by the preceding article are included 
the adjacent islands belonging to Louisiana, all public lots 
and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, forti- 
fications, barracks and other edifices which are not private 
property. The archives, papers, and documents, relative to 
the domain and sovereignty of Louisiana and its depend- 
ences, will be left in the possession of the commissaries of 
the United States, and copies will be afterwards given in 
due form to the magistrates and municipal officers of such 
of the said papers and documents as may be necessary 
to them. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE III 

The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incor- 
porated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as 
soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal 
constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, 
and immunities of citizens of the United States ; and in the 
mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the 
free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion 
which they profess. 

ARTICLE IV 

There shall be sent by the Government of France a com- 
missary to Louisiana, to the end that he do every act neces- 
sary, as well to receive from the officers of His Catholic 
Majesty the said country and its dependences, in the name 
of the French Republic, if it has not been already done, as 
to transmit it in the name of the French Republic to the 
commissary or agent of the United States. 



article v 

Immediately after the ratification of the present treaty 
by the President of the United States, and in case that of 
the First Consul shall have been previously obtained, the 
commissary of the French Republic shall remit all military 
posts of New Orleans, and other parts of the ceded territory, 
to the commissary or commissaries named by the President 
to take possession; the troops, whether of France or Spain, 
who may be there shall cease to occupy any military post 
from the time of taking possession, and shall be embarked 
as soon as possible, in the course of three months after the 
ratification of this treaty. 

179 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE VI 



The United States promise to execute such treaties and 
articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the 
tribes and nations of Indians, until, by mutual consent of the 
United States and the said tribes or nations, other suitable 
articles shall have been agreed upon. 



ARTICLE VII 

As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce of 
France and the United States to encourage the communica- 
tion of both nations for a limited time in the country ceded 
by the present treaty, until general arrangements relative to 
the commerce of both nations may be agreed on ; it has been 
agreed between the contracting parties, that the French 
ships coming directly from France or any of her colonies, 
loaded only with the produce and manufactures of France or 
her said colonies; and the ships of Spain coming directly 
from Spain or any of her colonies, loaded only with the pro- 
duce or manufactures of Spain or her colonies, shall be 
admitted during the space of twelve years in the port of New 
Orleans, and in all other legal ports of entry within the 
ceded territory, in the same manner as the ships of the United 
States coming directly from France or Spain, or any of their 
colonies, without being subject to any other or greater duty 
on merchandize, or other or greater tonnage than that paid 
by the citizens of the United States. 

During the space of time above mentioned, no other nation 
shall have a right to the same privileges in the ports of the 
ceded territory; the twelve years shall commence three 
months after the exchange of ratifications, if it shall take 
place in France, or three months after it shall have been 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

notified at Paris to the French Government, if it shall take 
place in the United States; it is however well understood 
that the object of the above article is to favor the manu- 
factures, commerce, freight, and navigation of France and of 
Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the French 
and Spanish shall make into the said ports of the United 
States, without in any sort affecting the regulations that 
the United States may make concerning the exportation of 
the produce and merchandize of the United States, or any 
right they may have to make such regulations. 



ARTICLE VIII 

In future and forever after the expiration of the twelve 
years, the ships of France shall be treated upon the footing 
of the most favoured nations in the ports above mentioned. 



ARTICLE IX 

The particular convention signed this day by the respec- 
tive ministers, having for its object to provide for the pay- 
ment of debts due to the citizens of the United States by the 
French Republic prior to the 30th Septr., 1800, (8th Vende- 
miaire, an 9,) is approved, and to have its execution in the 
same manner as if it had been inserted in this present treaty ; 
and it shall be ratified in the same form and in the same 
time, so that the one shall not be ratified distinct from the 
other. 

Another particular convention signed at the same date as 
the present treaty relative to a definitive rule between the 
contracting parties is in the like manner approved, and will 
be ratified in the same form, and in the same time, and 
jointly. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE X 

The present treaty shall be ratified in good and due f orm, 
and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of six 
months after the date of the signature by the Ministers 
Plenipotentiary, or sooner if possible. 

In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have 
signed these articles in the French and English languages ; 
declaring nevertheless that the present treaty was originally 
agreed to in the French language ; and have thereunto affixed 
their seals. 

Done at Paris the tenth day of Floreal, in the eleventh 
year of the French Republic, and the 30th of April, 1803. 

Robt. R. Livingston [l. s.] 
Jas. Monroe [l. s.] 

F. Barbe" Marbois [l. s.] 



182 



Treaty with Great Britain 1814 

Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Ma- 
jesty and the United States of America, Concluded at Ghent 
December 24, 1814; Ratification Advised by Senate Febru- 
ary 16, 1815; Ratified by President February 17, 1815; 
Ratifications Exchanged at Washington February 17> 1815; 
Proclaimed February 18, 1815. 

His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, 
desirous of terminating the war which has unhappily sub- 
sisted between the two countries, and of restoring, upon 
principles of perfect reciprocity, peace, friendship, and good 
understanding between them, have, for that purpose, 
appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: 

His Britannic Majesty, on his part, has appointed the 
Right Honourable James Lord Gambier, late Admiral of 
the White, now Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Maj- 
esty's fleet, Henry Goulburn, Esquire, a member of the 
Imperial Parliament, and Under Secretary of State, and 
William Adams, Esquire, Doctor of Civil Laws; and the 
President of the United States, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate thereof, has appointed John Quincy 
Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, 
and Albert Gallatin, citizens of the United States; 

Who, after a reciprocal communication of their respective 
full powers, have agreed upon the following articles : 

ARTICLE I 

There shall be a firm and universal peace between His 
Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

respective countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, 
of every degree, without exception of places or persons. All 
hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease as soon as this 
treaty shall have been ratified by both parties, as hereinafter 
mentioned. All territory, places, and possessions whatso- 
ever, taken by either party from the other during the war, 
or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, 
excepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall 
be restored without delay, and without causing any destruc- 
tion or carrying away any of the artillery or other public 
property originally captured in the said forts or places, 
and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the 
ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private 
property. And all archives, records, deeds, and papers, 
either of a public nature or belonging to private persons, 
which, in the course of the war, may have fallen into the 
hands of the officers of either party, shall be, as far as may be 
practicable, forthwith restored and delivered to the proper 
authorities and persons to whom they respectively belong. 
Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are 
claimed by both parties, shall remain in the possession of the 
party in whose occupation they may be at the time of the ex- 
change of the ratifications of this treaty, until the decision 
respecting the title to the said islands shall have been made 
in conformity with the fourth article of this treaty. No dis- 
position made by this treaty as to such possession of the 
islands and territories claimed by both parties shall, in any 
manner whatever, be construed to affect the right of either. 



ARTICLE II 

Immediately after the ratifications of this treaty by both 
parties, as hereinafter mentioned, orders shall be sent to the 
armies, squadrons, officers, subjects and citizens of the two 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Powers to cease from all hostilities. And to prevent all 
causes of complaint which might arise on account of the 
prizes which may be taken at sea after the said ratifications 
of this treaty, it is reciprocally agreed that all vessels and 
effects which may be taken after the space of twelve days 
from the said ratifications, upon all parts of the coast of 
North America, from the latitude of twenty-three degrees 
north to the latitude of fifty degrees north, and as far 
eastward in the Atlantic Ocean as the thirty-sixth 
degree of west longitude from the meridian of Green- 
wich, shall be restored on each side: that the time shall 
be thirty days in all other parts of the Atlantic Ocean north 
of the equinoctial line or equator, and the same time for the 
British and Irish Channels, for the Gulf of Mexico, and all 
parts of the West Indies; forty days for the North Seas, 
for the Baltic, and for all parts of the Mediterranean; sixty 
days for the Atlantic Ocean south of the equator, as far 
as the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope; ninety days for 
every other part of the world south of the equator ; and one 
hundred and twenty days for all other parts of the world, 
without exception. 

ARTICLE III 

All prisoners of war taken on either side, as well by land 
as by sea, shall be restored as soon as practicable after the 
ratifications of this treaty, as hereinafter mentioned, on their 
paying the debts which they may have contracted during 
their captivity. The two contracting parties respectively 
engage to discharge, in specie, the advances which may have 
been made by the other for the sustenance and maintenance 
of such prisoners. 

ARTICLE IV 

Whereas it was stipulated by the second article in the 
treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

three, between His Britannic Majesty and the United 
States of America, that the boundary of the United States 
should comprehend all islands within twenty leagues of any 
part of the shores of the United States, and lying between 
lines to be drawn due east from the points where the afore- 
said boundaries, between Nova Scotia on the one part, and 
East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay 
of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as 
now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of Nova 
Scotia ; and whereas the several islands in the Bay of Passa- 
maquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the Is- 
land of Grand Menan, in the said Bay of Fundy, are claimed 
by the United States as being comprehended within their 
aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as be- 
longing to His Britannic Maj esty, as having been, at the time 
of and previous to the aforesaid treaty of one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-three, within the limits of the Province 
of Nova Scotia: In order, therefore, finally to decide upon 
these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two 
Commissioners to be appointed in the following manner, 
viz : One Commissioner shall be appointed by His Britannic 
Majesty, and one by the President of the United States, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; 
and the said two Commissioners so appointed shall be sworn 
impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims 
according to such evidence as shall be laid before them on 
the part of His Britannic Majesty and of the United States 
respectively. The said Commissioners shall meet at St. 
Andrews, in the Province of New Brunswick, and shall have 
power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall 
think fit. The said Commissioners shall, bj^ a declaration 
or report under their hands and seals, decide to which of the 
two contracting parties the several islands aforesaid do 
respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-three. And if the said Commissioners shall agree 
in their decision, both parties shall consider such decision 
as final and conclusive. It is further agreed that, in the 
event of the two Commissioners differing upon all or any 
of the matters so referred to them, or in the event of both 
or either of the said Commissioners refusing, or declining, 
or wilfully omitting to act as such, they shall make, jointly 
or separately, a report or reports, as well to the Government 
of His Britannic Majesty as to that of the United States, 
stating in detail the points on which they differ, and the 
grounds upon which their respective opinions have been 
formed, or the grounds upon which they, or either of them, 
have so refused, declined, or omitted to act. And His Bri- 
tannic Majesty and the Government of the United States 
hereby agree to refer the report or reports of the said Com- 
missioners to some friendly sovereign or State, to be then 
named for that purpose, and who shall be requested to decide 
on the differences which may be stated in the said report 
or reports, or upon the report of one Commissioner, together 
with the grounds upon which the other Commissioner shall 
have refused, declined, or omitted to act, as the case may be. 
And if the Commissioner so refusing, declining, or omitting 
to act, shall also wilfully omit to state the grounds upon 
which he has so done, in such manner that the said statement 
may be referred to such friendly sovereign or State, together 
with the report of such other Commissioner, then such sover- 
eign or State shall decide ex parte upon the said report alone. 
And His Britannic Majesty and the Government of the 
United States engage to consider the decision of such 
friendly sovereign or State to be final and conclusive on all 
the matters so referred. 



187 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE V 

Whereas neither that point of the highlands lying due 
north from the source of the river St. Croix, and designated 
in the former treaty of peace between the two Powers as 
the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, nor the northwestern- 
most head of Connecticut River, has yet been ascertained; 
and whereas that part of the boundary line between the 
dominions of the two Powers which extends from the source 
of the river St. Croix directly north to the abovementioned 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said high- 
lands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into 
the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlan- 
tic Ocean to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River, 
thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth 
degree of north latitude ; thence by a line due west on said 
latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, has 
not yet been surveyed : it is agreed that for these several pur- 
poses two Commissioners shall be appointed, sworn, and 
authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect 
to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless other- 
wise specified in the present article. The said Commissioners 
shall meet at St. Andrews, in the Province of New Brunswick, 
and shall have power to adj ourn to such other place or places 
as they shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall have 
power to ascertain and determine the points above mentioned, 
in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace 
of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and shall 
cause the boundary aforesaid, from the source of the river 
St. Croix to the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, to be surveyed 
and marked according to the said provisions. The said Com- 
missioners shall make a map of the said boundary, and annex 
to it a declaration under their hands and seals, certifying 
it to be the true map of the said boundary, and particulariz- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing the latitude and longitude of the northwest angle of 
Nova Scotia, of the northwesternmost head of Connecticut 
River, and of such other points of the said boundary as they 
may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such 
map and declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the 
said boundary. And in the event of the said two Commis- 
sioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declin- 
ing, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or 
statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and 
such reference to a friendly sovereign or State shall be made 
in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is 
contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein 
repeated. 

ARTICLE VI 

Whereas by the former treaty of peace that portion of the 
boundary of the United States from the point where the 
forty-fifth degree of north latitude strikes the river Iroquois 
or Cataraquy to the Lake Superior, was declared to be 
" along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, through 
the middle of said lake, until it strikes the communication 
by water between that lake and Lake Erie, thence along the 
middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the 
middle of said lake until it arrives at the water communi- 
cation into Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said 
lake to the water communication between that lake and 
Lake Superior; " and whereas doubts have arisen what was 
the middle of the said river, lakes, and water communi- 
cations, and whether certain islands lying in the same were 
within the dominions of His Britannic Majesty or of the 
United States: In order, therefore, finally to decide these 
doubts, they shall be referred to two Commissioners, to 
be appointed, sworn, and authorized to act exactly in the 
manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in this 
present article. The said Commissioners shall meet, in the 
first instance, at Albany, in the State of New York, and shall 
have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they 
shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall, by a report or 
declaration, under their hands and seals, designate the 
boundary through the said river, lakes, and water communi- 
cations, and decide to which of the two contracting parties 
the several islands lying within the said rivers, lakes, and 
water communications, do respectively belong, in conformity 
with the true intent of the said treaty of one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-three. And both parties agree to con- 
sider such designation and decision as final and conclusive. 
And in the event of the said two Commissioners differing, or 
both or either of them refusing, declining, or wilfully omit- 
ting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements shall 
be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to 
a friendly sovereign or State shall be made in all respects as 
in the latter part of the fourth article is contained and in as 
full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. 

ARTICLE VII 

It is further agreed that the said two last-mentioned Com- 
missioners, after they shall have executed the duties assigned 
to them in the preceding article, shall be, and they are 
hereby, authorized upon their oaths impartially to fix and 
determine, according to the true intent of the said treaty 
of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, 
that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two 
Powers which extends from the water communication be- 
tween Lake Huron and Lake Superior, to the most north- 
western point of the Lake of the Woods, to decide to which 
of the two parties the several islands lying in the lakes, 

190 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

water communications, and rivers, forming the said bound- 
ary, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true 
intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-three; and to cause such parts of the 
said boundary as require it to be surveyed and marked. The 
said Commissioners shall, by a report or declaration under 
their hands and seals, designate the boundary aforesaid, 
state their decision on the points thus referred to them, 
and particularize the latitude and longitude of the most 
northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, and of such 
other parts of the said boundary as they may deem proper. 
And both parties agree to consider such designation and 
decision as final and conclusive. And in the event of the 
said two Commissioners differing, or both or either of them 
refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, 
declarations, or statements shall be made by them, or either 
of them, and such reference to a friendly sovereign or State 
shall be made in all respects as in the latter part of the 
fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the 
same was herein repeated. 



ARTICLE VIII 

The several boards of two Commissioners mentioned in 
the four preceding articles shall respectively have power to 
appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors or other 
persons as they shall judge necessary. Duplicates of all 
their respective reports, declarations, statements, and deci- 
sions, and of their accounts, and of the journal of their pro- 
ceedings, shall be delivered by them to the agents of His 
Britannic Majesty and to the agents of the United States, 
who may be respectively appointed and authorized to manage 
the business on behalf of their respective Governments. The 
said Commissioners shall be respectively paid in such manner 

191 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

as shall be agreed between the two contracting parties, such 
agreement being to be settled at the time of the exchange of 
the ratifications of this treaty. And all other expenses attend- 
ing the said commissions shall be defrayed equally by the 
two parties. And in the case of death, sickness, resignation, 
or necessary absence, the place of every such Commissioner, 
respectively, shall be supplied in the same manner as such 
Commissioner was first appointed, and the new Commis- 
sioner shall take the same oath or affirmation, and do the same 
duties. It is further agreed between the two contracting 
parties, that in case any of the islands mentioned in any of 
the preceding articles, which were in the possession of one 
of the parties prior to the commencement of the present war 
between the two countries, should, by the decision of any of 
the boards of Commissioners aforesaid, or of the sovereign 
or State so referred to, as in the four next preceding articles 
contained, fall within the dominions of the other party, all 
grants of land made previous to the commencement of the 
war, by the party having had such possession, shall be as 
valid as if such island or islands had, by such decision or 
decisions, been adjudged to be within the dominions of the 
party having had such possession. 



ARTICLE IX 

The United States of America engage to put an end, 
immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to 
hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with 
whom they may be at war at the time of such ratification ; and 
forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations, respectively, 
all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may 
have enjoyed or been entitled to in one thousand eight 
hundred and eleven, previous to such hostilities: Provided 
always that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from 

192 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

all hostilities against the United States of America, their 
citizens and subjects, upon the ratification of the present 
treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and shall so 
desist accordingly. And His Britannic Majesty engages, 
on his part, to put an end immediately after the ratification 
of the present treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes or 
nations of Indians with whom he may be at war at the time 
of such ratification, and forthwith to restore to such tribes 
or nations respectively all the possessions, rights, and privi- 
leges which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in 
one thousand eight hundred and eleven, previous to such hos- 
tilities: Provided always that such tribes or nations shall 
agree to desist from all hostilities against His Britannic 
Majesty, and his subjects, upon the ratification of the 
present treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and 
shall so desist accordingly. 



article x 

Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the 
principles of humanity and justice, and whereas both His 
Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing 
their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby 
agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best 
endeavours to accomplish so desirable an object. 

ARTICLE XI 

This treaty, when the same shall have been ratified on both 
sides, without alteration by either of the contracting parties, 
and the ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be binding 
on both parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at 
Washington, in the space of four months from this day, or 
sooner if practicable. 

193 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have 
signed this treaty, and have thereunto affixed our seals. 

Done, in triplicate, at Ghent, the twenty-fourth day of 
December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen. 

Gambier 

Henry Goulburn 
William Adams 
John Quincy Adams 
J. A. Bayard 
H. Clay 
Jona. Russell 
Albert Gallatin 



[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 


[l. 


s.] 



194 



Treaty with Spain 1819 

Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits between the 
United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, Con- 
cluded at Washington February 22, 1819; Ratification Ad- 
vised by Senate February 24, 1819; Ratified by President; 
Ratified by the King of Spain October 24, 1820; Ratifica- 
tion Again Advised by Senate February 19j, 1821; Ratified 
by President February 22, 1821; Ratifications Exchanged 
at Washington February 22, 1821; Proclaimed February 
22, 1821. 

The United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, 
desiring to consolidate, on a permanent basis, the friendship 
and good correspondence which happily prevails between 
the two parties, have determined to settle and terminate 
all their differences and pretensions, by a treaty, which shall 
designate, with precision, the limits of their respective bor- 
dering territories in North America. 

With this intention the President of the United States has 
furnished with their full powers John Quincy Adams, Secre- 
tary of State of the said United States; and His Catholic 
Majesty has appointed the Most Excellent Lord Don Luis 
De Onis, Gonzales, Lopez y Vara, Lord of the town of 
Rayaces, Perpetual Regidor of the Corporation of the city 
of Salamanca, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal American 
Order of Isabella the Catholic, decorated with the Lys of 
La Vendee, Knight Pensioner of the Royal and Distin- 
guished Spanish Order of Charles the Third, Member of 
the Supreme Assembly of the said Royal Order; of the 
Council of His Majesty; His Secretary, with Exercise of 

195 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Decrees, and His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary near the United States of America; 

And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged 
their powers, have agreed upon and concluded the following 
articles : 

ARTICLE I 

There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere 
friendship between the United States and their citizens and 
His Catholic Majesty, his successors and subjects, without 
exception of persons or places. 



ARTICLE II 

His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full 
property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to 
him, situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by 
the name of East and West Florida. The adjacent islands 
dependent on said provinces, all public lots and squares, 
vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and 
other buildings, which are not private property, archives and 
documents, which relate directly to the property and sover- 
eignty of said provinces, are included in this article. The 
said archives and documents shall be left in possession of 
the commissaries or officers of the United States, duly 
authorized to receive them. 



ARTICLE III 

The boundary line between the two countries, west of the 
Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth 
of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the 
western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude; 
thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where 

196 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

it strikes the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches, or Red River; then 
following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree 
of longitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washing- 
ton; then, crossing the said Red River, and running thence 
by a line due north, to the river Arkansas ; thence, following 
the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its 
source, in latitude 42 north ; and thence, by that parallel of 
latitude, to the South Sea. The whole being as laid down 
in Melish's map of the United States, published at Phila- 
delphia, improved to the first of January, 1818. But if the 
source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or 
south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said 
source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets 
the said parallel of latitude 42, and thence, along the said 
parallel, to the South Sea: All the islands in the Sabine, 
and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, throughout the course 
thus described, to belong to the United States ; but the use 
of the waters, and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and 
of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent 
of the said boundary, on their respective banks, shall be com- 
mon to the respective inhabitants of both nations. 

The two high contracting parties agree to cede and 
renounce all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the terri- 
tories described by the said line, that is to say: The United 
States hereby cede to His Catholic Majesty, and renounce 
forever, all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the 
territories lying west and south of the above-described line ; 
and, in like manner, His Catholic Majesty cedes to the said 
United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions to any 
territories east and north of the said line, and for himself, 
his heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said 
territories forever. 



197 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE IV 

To fix this line with more precision, and to place the land- 
marks which shall designate exactly the limits of both 
nations, each of the contracting parties shall appoint a 
Commissioner and a surveyor, who shall meet before the 
termination of one year from the date of the ratification of 
this treaty at Nachitoches, on the Red River, and proceed 
to run and mark the said line, from the mouth of the Sabine 
to the Red River, and from the Red River to the river Arkan- 
sas, and to ascertain the latitude of the source of the said 
river Arkansas, in conformity to what is above agreed upon 
and stipulated, and the line of latitude 42, to the South 
Sea: they shall make out plans, and keep journals of their 
proceedings, and the result agreed upon by them shall be 
considered as part of this treaty, and shall have the same 
force as if it were inserted therein. The two Governments 
will amicably agree respecting the necessary articles to 
be furnished to those persons, and also as to their respective 
escorts, should such be deemed necessary. 



ARTICLE V 

The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured 
in the free exercise of their religion, without any restriction ; 
and all those who may desire to remove to the Spanish 
dominions shall be permitted to sell or export their effects, 
at any time whatever, without being subject, in either case, 
to duties. 

ARTICLE VI 

The inhabitants of the territories which His Catholic 
Majesty cedes to the United States, by this treaty, shall 

198 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

be incorporated in the Union of the United States, as soon 
as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal 
Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of all the 
privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the 
United States. 

ARTICLE VII 

The officers and troops of His Catholic Majesty, in the 
territories hereby ceded by him to the United States, shall 
be withdrawn, and possession of the places occupied by 
them shall be given within six months after the exchange 
of the ratifications of this treaty, or sooner if possible, by 
the officers of His Catholic Majesty to the commissioners 
or officers of the United States duly appointed to receive 
them; and the United States shall furnish the transports 
and escorts necessary to convey the Spanish officers and 
troops and their baggage to the Havana. 



ARTICLE VIII 

All the grants of land made before the 24th of January, 
1818, by His Catholic Majesty, or by his lawful authorities, 
in the said territories ceded by His Majesty to the United 
States, shall be ratified and confirmed to the persons in 
possession of the lands, to the same extent that the same 
grants would be valid if the territories had remained under 
the dominion of His Catholic Majesty. But the owners in 
possession of such lands, who, by reason of the recent circum- 
stances of the Spanish nation, and the revolutions in Europe, 
have been prevented from fulfilling all the conditions of 
their grants, shall complete them within the terms limited 
in the same, respectively, from the date of this treaty; in 
default of which the said grants shall be null and void. All 

199 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

grants made since the said 24th of January, 1818, when the 
first proposal, on the part of His Catholic Majesty, for the 
cession of the Floridas was made, are hereby declared and 
agreed to be null and void. 



ARTICLE IX 

The two high contracting parties, animated with the most 
earnest desire of conciliation, and with the object of putting 
an end to all the differences which have existed between 
them, and of confirming the good understanding which they 
wish to be forever maintained between them, reciprocally 
renounce all claims for damages or injuries which they, 
themselves, as well as their respective citizens and subjects, 
may have suffered until the time of signing this treaty. 

The renunciation of the United States will extend to all 
the injuries mentioned in the convention of the 11th of 
August, 1802. 

(2) To all claims on account of prizes made by French 
privateers, and condemned by French Consuls, within the 
territory and jurisdiction of Spain. 

(3) To all claims of indemnities on account of the sus- 
pension of the right of deposit at New Orleans in 1802. 

(4) To all claims of citizens of the United States upon 
the Government of Spain, arising from the unlawful seiz- 
ures at sea, and in the ports and territories of Spain, or the 
Spanish colonies. 

(5) To all claims of citizens of the United States 
upon the Spanish Government, statements of which, solicit- 
ing the interposition of the Government of the United 
States, have been presented to the Department of State, 
or to the Minister of the United States in Spain, since the 
date of the convention of 1802, and until the signature of 
this treaty. 

200 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

The renunciation of His Catholic Majesty extends — 

(1) To all the injuries mentioned in the convention of 
the 11th of August, 1802. 

(2) To the sums which His Catholic Majesty advanced 
for the return of Captain Pike from the Provincias Internas. 

(3) To all injuries caused by the expedition of Miranda, 
that was fitted out and equipped at New York. 

(4) To all claims of Spanish subjects upon the Govern- 
ment of the United States arizing from unlawful seizures 
at sea, or within the ports and territorial jurisdiction of the 
United States. 

Finally to all the claims of subjects of His Catholic 
Maj esty upon the Government of the United States in which 
the interposition of his Catholic Majesty's Government has 
been solicited, before the date of this treaty and since the 
date of the convention of 1802, or which may have been 
made to the department of foreign affairs of His Majesty, 
or to His Minister in the United States. 

And the high contracting parties, respectively, renounce 
all claim to indemnities for any of the recent events or 
transactions of their respective commanders and officers 
in the Floridas. 

The United States will cause satisfaction to be made for 
the injuries, if any, which, by process of law, shall be estab- 
lished to have been suffered by the Spanish officers, and 
individual Spanish inhabitants, by the late operations of 
the American Army in Florida. 



article x 
The convention entered into between the two Governments 



on the 11th of August, 1802, the ratifications of which were 
exchanged the 21st December, 1818, is annulled. 



201 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XI 

The United States, exonerating Spain from all demands 
in future, on account of the claims of their citizens to which 
the renunciations herein contained extend, and considering 
them entirely cancelled, undertake to make satisfaction for 
the same, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars. 
To ascertain the full amount and validity of those claims, 
a commission, to consist of three Commissioners, citizens 
of the United States, shall be appointed by the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, which com- 
mission shall meet at the city of Washington, and, within 
the space of three years from the time of their first meeting, 
shall receive, examine, and decide upon the amount and 
validity of all the claims included within the descriptions 
above mentioned. The said Commissioners shall take an 
oath or affirmation, to be entered on the record of their pro- 
ceedings, for the faithful and diligent discharge of their 
duties ; and, in case of the death, sickness, or necessary ab- 
sence of any such Commissioner, his place may be supplied by 
the appointment, as aforesaid, or by the President of the 
United States, during the recess of the Senate, of another 
Commissioner in his stead. The said Commissioners shall 
be authorized to hear and examine, on oath, every question 
relative to the said claims, and to receive all suitable authen- 
tic testimony concerning the same. And the Spanish 
Government shall furnish all such documents and elucida- 
tions as may be in their possession, for the adjustment of 
the said claims, according to the principles of justice, the 
laws of nations, and the stipulations of the treaty between 
the two parties of 27th October, 1795; the said documents 
to be specified, when demanded, at the instance of the said 
Commissioners. 

202 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

The payment of such claims as may be admitted and 
adjusted by the said Commissioners, or the major part of 
them, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars, 
shall be made by the United States, either immediately at 
their Treasury, or by the creation of stock, bearing an 
interest of six per cent, per annum, payable from the pro- 
ceeds of sales of public lands within the territories hereby 
ceded to the United States, or in such other manner as the 
Congress of the United States may prescribe by law. 

The records of the proceedings of the said Commissioners, 
together with the vouchers and documents produced before 
them, relative to the claims to be adjusted and decided upon 
by them, shall, after the close of their transactions, be 
deposited in the Department of State of the United States ; 
and copies of them, or any part of them, shall be furnished 
to the Spanish Government, if required, at the demand of 
the Spanish Minister in the United States. 

ARTICLE XII 

The treaty of limits and navigation, of 1795, remains 
confirmed in all and each one of its articles excepting the 
2, 3, 4, 21, and the second clause of the 22d article, which 
having been altered by this treaty, or having received their 
entire execution, are no longer valid. 

With respect to the 15th article of the same treaty of 
friendship, limits, and navigation of 1795, in which it is 
stipulated that the flag shall cover the property, the two 
high contracting parties agree that this shall be so under- 
stood with respect to those Powers who recognize this prin- 
ciple; but if either of the two contracting parties shall be 
at war with a third party, and the other neutral, the flag 
of the neutral shall cover the property of enemies whose 
Government acknowledge this principle, and not of others. 

203 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XIII 

Both contracting parties, wishing to favour their mutual 
commerce, by affording in their ports every necessary assist- 
ance to their respective merchant-vessels, have agreed that 
the sailors who shall desert from their vessels in the ports 
of the other, shall be arrested and delivered up, at the 
instance of the Consul, who shall prove, nevertheless, that 
the deserters belonged to the vessels that claimed them, 
exhibiting the document that is customary in their nation: 
that is to say, the American Consul in a Spanish port shall 
exhibit the document known by the name of articles, and 
the Spanish Consul in American ports the roll of the vessel ; 
and if the name of the deserter or deserters who are claimed 
shall appear in the one or the other, they shall be arrested, 
held in custody, and delivered to the vessel to which they 
shall belong. 

ARTICLE XIV 

The United States hereby certify that they have not 
received any compensation from France for the injuries 
they suffered from her privateers, Consuls, and tribunals 
on the coasts and in the ports of Spain, for the satisfaction 
of which provision is made by this treaty; and they will 
present an authentic statement of the prizes made, and of 
their true value, that Spain may avail herself of the same 
in such manner as she may deem just and proper. 



ARTICLE xv 

The United States, to give to His Catholic Majesty a 
proof of their desire to cement the relations of amity sub- 
sisting between the two nations, and to favour the commerce 
of the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, agree that Spanish 

204 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

vessels, coming laden only with productions of Spanish 
growth or manufactures, directly from the ports of Spain, 
or of her colonies, shall be admitted, for the term of twelve 
years, to the ports of Pensacola and St. Augustine, in the 
Floridas, without paying other or higher duties on their 
cargoes, or of tonnage, than will be paid by the vessels 
of the United States. During the said term no other nation 
shall enjoy the same privileges within the ceded territories. 
The twelve years shall commence three months after the 
exchange of the ratifications of this treaty. 



ARTICLE XVI 

The present treaty shall be ratified in due form, by the 
contracting parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged 
in six months from this time, or sooner if possible. 

In witness whereof we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries 
of the United States of America and of His Catholic Maj- 
esty, have signed, by virtue of our powers, the present 
treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, and have thereunto 
affixed our seals, respectively. 

Done at Washington this twenty-second day of February, 
one thousand eight hundred and nineteen. 

John Quincy Adams [l. s.] 
Luis de Onis [l. s.] 



205 



Missouri Compromise 1820-21 



MISSOURI ENABLING ACT 

An Act to authorize the people of Missouri Territory 
to form a constitution and State government, and for the 
admission of such State into the Union on an equal foot- 
ing with the original States, and to prohibit slavery in cer- 
tain territories. 

Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress as- 
sembled, That the inhabitants of that portion of the Mis- 
souri Territory included within the boundaries hereinafter 
designated, be, and they are hereby, authorized to form 
for themselves a constitution and State government, and to 
assume such name as they shall deem proper; and the 
said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, 
upon an equal footing with the original States, in all 
respects whatsoever. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said State 
shall consist of all the territory included within the follow- 
ing boundaries, to wit : Beginning in the middle of the Mis- 
sissippi river, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north 
latitude; thence west, along that parallel of latitude, to 
the St. Francois river ; thence up, and following the course 
of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to 
the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
minutes; thence west, along the same, to a point where the 
said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing 
through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where 

206 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the same empties into the Missouri river, thence from the 
point aforesaid north, along the said meridian line, to the 
intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through 
the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line 
to correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence east, 
from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said 
parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the 
main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and 
along the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to 
the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Missis- 
sippi river ; thence, due east, to the middle of the main chan- 
nel of the Mississippi river; thence down, and following 
the course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the 
main channel thereof, to the place of beginning : . . . . 
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all free white 
male citizens of the United States, who shall have arrived 
at the age of twenty-one years, and have resided in said 
Territory three months previous to the day of election, and 
all other persons qualified to vote for representatives to 
the General Assembly of the said Territory, shall be quali- 
fied to be elected, and they are hereby qualified and au- 
thorized to vote, and choose representatives to form a 
convention, . . . 



Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the members 
of the convention thus duly elected, shall be, and they are 
hereby, authorized to meet at the seat of government of 
said Territory, on the second Monday of the month of 
June next; and the said convention, when so assembled, 
shall have power and authority to adjourn to any other 
place in the said Territory, which to them shall seem best 
for the convenient transaction of their business; and which 

207 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

convention, when so met, shall first determine, by a ma- 
jority of the whole number elected, whether it be, or be 
not, expedient at that time to form a constitution and State 
government, for the people within the said Territory, as 
included within the boundaries above designated; and, if 
it be deemed expedient, the convention shall be and hereby 
is, authorized to form a constitution and State government; 
or, if it be deemed more expedient, the said convention shall 
provide by ordinance for electing representatives to form 
a constitution or frame of government; which said repre- 
sentatives shall be chosen in such manner, and in such pro- 
portion, as they shall designate; and shall meet at such 
time and place as shall be prescribed by the said ordinance ; 
and shall then form for the people of said Territory, 
within the boundaries aforesaid, a constitution and State 
government: Provided, That the same, whenever formed, 
shall be republican and not repugnant to the Constitution 
of the United States ; and that the Legislature of said State 
shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil 
by the United States, nor with any regulations Congress 
may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to 
the bona fide purchasers; and that no tax shall be imposed 
on lands the property of the United States; and in no case 
shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than resi- 
dents. 



Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That, in case a con- 
stitution and State government shall be formed for the 
people of said Territory of Missouri, the said convention 
or representatives, as soon thereafter as may be, shall cause 
a true and attested copy of such constitution, or frame of 
State government, as shall be formed or provided, to be 
transmitted to Congress. 

208 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in all that ter- 
ritory ceded by France to the United States, under the 
name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees 
and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the 
limits of the State, contemplated by this act, slavery and 
involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of 
crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, 
shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited: Provided al- 
ways, That any person escaping into the same, from whom 
labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Terri- 
tory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully 
claimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her 
labor or services as aforesaid. 

Approved, March 6, 1820. 

RESOLUTION OF MARCH 2 1821 

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an 
equal footing with the original States, in all respects what- 
ever, upon the fundamental condition, that the fourth 
clause of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of 
the constitution submitted on the part of said State to 
Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the pas- 
sage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in con- 
formity thereto, by which any citizen, of either of the 
States in this Union, shall be excluded from the enjoy- 
ment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such 
citizen is entitled under the Constitution of the United 
States: Provided, That the Legislature of said State, by 
a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of the said 
State, to the said fundamental condition, and shall transmit 
to the President of the United States on or before the 

209 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of 
the said act; upon the receipt whereof, the President, by 
proclamation, shall announce the fact; whereupon, and 
without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, 
the admission of the said State into the Union shall be 
considered as complete. 
Approved, March 2, 1821. 



210 



The Monroe Doctrine 1823 

At the proposal of the Russian imperial government, 
made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, 
a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the 
Minister of the United States at St. Petersburgh, to ar- 
range, by amicable negotiation, the respective rights and 
interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this 
continent. A similar proposal had been made by his Im- 
perial Majesty to the government of Great Britain, which 
has likewise been acceded to. The government of the 
United States has been desirous, by this friendly proceed- 
ing, of manifesting the great value which they have in- 
variably attached to the friendship of the emperor, and 
their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his 
government. In the discussions to which this interest has 
given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may 
terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for assert- 
ing, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the 
United States are involved, that the American continents, 
by the free and independent condition which they have as- 
sumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered 
as subjects for future colonization by any European 
powers. 



It was stated at the commencement of the last session, 
that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal, 
to improve the condition of the people of those countries, 
and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary 
moderation. It need scarcely be remarked, that the result 
has been, so far, very different from what was then antici- 

211 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

pated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which 
we have so much intercourse, and from which we derive our 
origin, we have always been anxious and interested spec- 
tators. The citizens of the United States cherish senti- 
ments the most friendly, in favor of the liberty and happi- 
ness of their fellow men on that side of the Atlantic. In 
the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to 
themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it com- 
port with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights 
are invaded, or seriously menaced, that we resent injuries, 
or make preparation for our defence. With the move- 
ments in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, more im- 
mediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious 
to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political 
system of the allied powers is essentially different, in this 
respect, from that of America. This difference proceeds 
from that which exists in their respective governments. 
And to the defence of our own, which has been achieved 
by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by 
the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under 
which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole na-, 
tion is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to 
the amicable relations existing between the United States 
and those powers, to declare, that we should consider any 
attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion 
of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety. 
With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European 
power, we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But 
with the governments who have declared their independence, 
and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on 
great consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged, 
we could not view any interposition for the purpose of 
oppressing them, or controlling, in any other manner, their 
destiny, by any European power, in any other light than 

212 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards 
the United States. In the war between those new govern- 
ments and Spain, we declared our neutrality at the time of 
their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall 
continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur, which, 
in the judgment of the competent authorities of this gov- 
ernment, shall make a corresponding change, on the part 
of the United States, indispensable to their security. 

The late events in Spain and Portugal, shew that Europe 
is still unsettled. Of this important fact, no stronger proof 
can be adduced than that the allied powers should have 
thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to them- 
selves, to have interposed, by force, in the internal concerns 
of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be car- 
ried, on the same principle, is a question, to which all 
independent powers, whose governments differ from theirs, 
are interested; even those most remote, and surely none 
more so than the United States. Our policy, in regard to 
Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars 
which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, 
nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere 
in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider 
the government de facto as the legitimate government for 
us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve 
those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy; meet- 
ing, in all instances, the just claims of every power; sub- 
mitting to injuries from none. But, in regard to these 
continents, circumstances are eminently and conspicuously 
different. It is impossible that the allied powers should 
extend their political system to any portion of either con- 
tinent, without endangering our peace and happiness: nor 
can any one believe that our Southern Brethren, if left to 
themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is 
equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such 

213 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

interposition, in any form, with indifference. If we look to 
the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those 
new governments, and their distance from each other, it 
must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still 
the true policy of the United States to leave the parties 
to themselves, in the hope that other powers will pursue 
the same course. 



214 



Treaty with Great Britain 18^2 

Treaty between the United States of America and Her 
Britannic Majesty Relative to Boundaries, Suppression of 
the Slave-Trade, and Extradition of Criminals, Concluded 
at Washington August 9, 1842; Ratification Advised by 
Senate August 20, 1842; Ratified by President August 22, 
1842; Ratifications Exchanged at London October 13, 1842; 
Proclaimed November 10, 1842. 

Whereas certain portions of the line of boundary be- 
tween the United States of America and the British domin- 
ions in North America, described in the second article of 
the treaty of peace of 1783, have not yet been ascertained 
and determined, notwithstanding the repeated attempts 
which have been heretofore made for that purpose; and 
whereas it is now thought to be for the interest of both 
parties, that, avoiding further discussion of their respective 
rights, arising in this respect under the said treaty, they 
should agree on a conventional line in said portions of the 
said boundary, such as may be convenient to both parties, 
with such equivalents and compensations as are deemed 
just and reasonable; and whereas, by the treaty concluded 
at Ghent on the 24th day of December, 1814, between the 
United States and His Britannic Majesty, an article was 
agreed to and inserted of the following tenor, viz.: "Art. 
10. Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the 
principles of humanity and justice; and whereas both His 
Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing 
their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby 
agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best 
endeavors to accomplish so desirable an object;" and 

215 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

whereas, notwithstanding the laws which have at various 
times been passed by the two Governments, and the efforts 
made to suppress it, that criminal traffic is still prosecuted 
and carried on; and whereas the United States of America 
and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland are determined that, so far 
as may be in their power, it shall be effectually abolished; 
and whereas it is found expedient, for the better adminis- 
tration of justice and the prevention of crime within the 
territories and jurisdiction of the two parties respectively, 
that persons committing the crimes hereinafter enumerated, 
and being fugitives from justice, should, under certain cir- 
cumstances, be reciprocally delivered up: The United 
States of America and Her Britannic Majesty, having re- 
solved to treat on these several subjects, have for that pur- 
pose appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries to nego- 
tiate and conclude a treaty, that is to say: 

The President of the United States has, on his part, 
furnished with full powers Daniel Webster, Secretary of 
State of the United States, and Her Majesty the Queen 
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has, 
on her part, appointed the Right Honorable Alexander Lord 
Ashburton, a peer of the said United Kingdom, a member 
of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, and Her 
Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary on a special mission to 
the United States; 

Who, after a reciprocal communication of their respec- 
tive full powers, have agreed to and signed the following 
articles : 

ARTICLE I 

It is hereby agreed and declared that the line of bound- 
ary shall be as follows: Beginning at the monument at 
the source of the river St. Croix as designated and agreed 

216 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

to by the Commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty 
of 1794, between the Governments of the United States 
and Great Britain; thence, north, following the exploring 
line run and marked by the surveyors of the two Govern- 
ments in the years 1817 and 1818, under the fifth article 
of the treaty of Ghent, to its intersection with the river 
St. John, and to the middle of the channel thereof; thence, 
up the middle of the main channel of the said river St. 
John, to the mouth of the river St. Francis; thence, up the 
middle of the channel of the said river St. Francis, and of 
the lakes through which it flows, to the outlet of the Lake 
Pohenagamook ; thence, southwesterly, in a straight line, 
to a point on the northwest branch of the river St. John, 
which point shall be ten miles distant from the main branch 
of the St. John, in a straight line, and in the nearest di- 
rection; but if the said point shall be found to be less than 
seven miles from the nearest point of the summit or crest 
of the highlands that divide those rivers which empty 
themselves into the river Saint Lawrence from those which 
fall into the river Saint John, then the said point shall be 
made to recede down the said northwest branch of the river 
St. John, to a point seven miles in a straight line from the 
said summit or crest; thence, in a straight line, in a course 
about south, eight degrees west, to the point where the 
parallel of latitude of 46° 25' north intersects the south- 
west branch of the St. John's; thence, southerly, by the 
said branch, to the source thereof in the highlands at the 
Metjarmette portage; thence, down along the said high- 
lands which divide the waters which empty themselves into 
the river Saint Lawrence from those which fall into the 
Atlantic Ocean, to the head of Hall's Stream ; thence, down 
the middle of said stream, till the line thus run intersects 
the old line of boundary surveyed and marked by Valen- 
tine and Collins, previously to the year 1774, as the 45th 

217 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

degree of north latitude, and which has been known and 
understood to be the line of actual division between the 
States of New York and Vermont on one side, and the Brit- 
ish province of Canada on the other; and from said point 
of intersection, west, along the said dividing line, as here- 
tofore known and understood, to the Iroquois or St. Law- 
rence River. 

ARTICLE II 

It is moreover agreed, that from the place where the 
joint Commissioners terminated their labors under the sixth 
article of the treaty of Ghent, to wit, at a point in the 
Neebish Channel, near Muddy Lake, the line shall run into 
and along the ship-channel between Saint Joseph and St. 
Tammany Islands, to the division of the channel at or near 
the head of St. Joseph's Island; thence, turning east- 
wardly and northwardly around the lower end of St. 
George's or Sugar Island, and following the middle of the 
channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's Isl- 
and; thence up the east Neebish Channel, nearest to St. 
George's Island, through the middle of Lake George; 
thence, west of Jonas' Island, into St. Mary's River, to a 
point in the middle of that river, about one mile above St. 
George's or Sugar Island, so as to appropriate and assign 
the said island to the United States; thence, adopting the 
line traced on the maps by the Commissioners, thro' the 
river St. Mary and Lake Superior, to a point north of lie 
Roy ale, in said lake, one hundred yards to the north and 
east of He Chapeau, which last-mentioned island lies near 
the northeastern point of He Royale, where the line 
marked by the Commissioners terminates; and from the 
last-mentioned point, southwesterly, through the middle of 
the sound between He Royale and the northwestern main 
land, to the mouth of Pigeon River, and up the said river, 

218 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

to and through the north and south Fowl Lakes, to the lakes 
of the height of land between Lake Superior and the Lake 
of the Woods; thence, along the water communication to Lake 
Saisaginaga, and through that lake; thence, to and through 
Cypress Lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la Croix, Little Ver- 
milion Lake, and Lake Namecan and through the several 
smaller lakes, straits, or streams, connecting the lakes here 
mentioned, to that point in Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake, 
at the Chaudiere Falls, from which the Commissioners 
traced the line to the most northwestern point of the Lake 
of the Woods; thence, along the said line, to the said most 
northwestern point, being in latitude 49° 23' 55" north, 
and in longitude 95° 14' 38" west from the observatory at 
Greenwich; thence, according to existing treaties, due south 
to its intersection with the 49th parallel of north latitude, 
and along that parallel to the Rocky Mountains. It being 
understood that all the water communications and all the 
usual portages along the line from Lake Superior to the 
Lake of the Woods, and also Grand Portage, from the shore 
of Lake Superior to the Pigeon River, as now actually 
used, shall be free and open to the use of the citizens and 
subjects of both countries. 



ARTICLE III 

In order to promote the interests and encourage the in- 
dustry of all the inhabitants of the countries watered by 
the river St. John and its tributaries, whether living within 
the State of Maine or the province of New Brunswick, it 
is agreed that, where, by the provisions of the present 
treaty, the river St. John is declared to be the line of 
boundary, the navigation of the said river shall be free 
and open to both parties, and shall in no way be obstructed 
by either; that all the produce of the forest, in logs, lum- 

219 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ber, timber, boards, staves, or shingles', or of agriculture, 
not being manufactured, grown on any of those parts of 
the State of Maine watered by the river St. John, or by 
its tributaries, of which fact reasonable evidence shall, if 
required, be produced, shall have free access into and 
through the said river and its said tributaries, having their 
source within the State of Maine, to and from the sea-port 
at the mouth of the said river St. John's, and to and round 
the falls of the said river, either by boats, rafts, or other 
conveyance; that when within the province of New Bruns- 
wick, the said produce shall be dealt with as if it were the 
produce of the said province; that, in like manner, the in- 
habitants of the territory of the upper St. John, determined 
by this treaty to belong to Her Britannic Majesty, shall 
have free access to and through the river, for their produce, 
in those parts where the said river runs wholly through the 
State of Maine; Provided, always, that this agreement 
shall give no right to either party to interfere with any 
regulations not inconsistent with the terms of this treaty 
which the governments, respectively, of Maine or of New 
Brunswick may make respecting the navigation of the said 
river, where both banks thereof shall belong to the same 
party. 

ARTICLE IV 

All grants of land heretofore made by either party, 
within the limits of the territory which by this treaty falls 
within the dominions of the other party, shall be held valid, 
ratified, and confirmed to the persons in possession under 
such grants, to the same extent as if such territory had by 
this treaty fallen within the dominions of the party by 
whom such grants were made; and all equitable possessory 
claims, arising from a possession and improvement of any 
lot or parcel of land by the person actually in possession, 

220 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

or by those under whom such person claims, for more than 
six years before the date of this treaty, shall, in like man- 
ner, be deemed valid, and be confirmed and quieted by a 
release to the person entitled thereto, of the title to such lot 
or parcel of land, so described as best to include the im- 
provements made thereon; and in all other respects the two 
contracting parties agree to deal upon the most liberal 
principles of equity with the settlers actually dwelling upon 
the territory falling to them, respectively, which has here- 
tofore been in dispute between them. 

article v 

Whereas in the course of the controversy respecting the 
disputed territory on the northeastern boundary, some 
moneys have been received by the authorities of Her Bri- 
tannic Majesty's province of New Brunswick, with the 
intention of preventing depredations on the forests of the 
said territory, which moneys were to be carried to a fund 
called the " disputed territory fund," the proceeds whereof 
it was agreed should be hereafter paid over to the parties 
interested, in the proportions to be determined by a final 
settlement of boundaries, it is hereby agreed that a correct 
account of all receipts and payments on the said fund shall 
be delivered to the Government of the United States within 
six months after the ratification of this treaty ; and the pro- 
portion of the amount due thereon to the States of Maine 
and Massachusetts, and any bonds or securities appertain- 
ing thereto shall be paid and delivered over to the Govern- 
ment of the United States; and the Government of the 
United States agrees to receive for the use of, and pay 

Lover to, the States of Maine and Massachusetts, their re- 
spective portions of said fund, and further, to pay and 
satisfy said States, respectively, for all claims for expenses 
" 






NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

incurred by them in protecting the said heretofore disputed 
territory and making a survey thereof in 1838; the Gov- 
ernment of the United States agreeing with the States of 
Maine and Massachusetts to pay them the further sum of 
three hundred thousand dollars, in equal moieties, on ac- 
count of their assent to the line of boundary described in 
this treaty, and in consideration of the conditions and 
equivalents received therefor from the Government of Her 
Britannic Majesty. 

ARTICLE VI 

It is furthermore understood and agreed that, for the 
purpose of running and tracing those parts of the line be- 
tween the source of the St. Croix and the St. Lawrence 
River which will require to be run and ascertained, and for 
marking the residue of said line by proper monuments on 
the land, two Commissioners shall be appointed, one by the 
President of the United States, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate thereof, and one by Her Britannic 
Majesty; and the said Commissioners shall meet at Bangor, 
in the State of Maine, on the first day of May next, or as 
soon thereafter as may be, and shall proceed to mark the 
line above described, from the source of St. Croix to the 
river St. John ; and shall trace on proper maps the dividing- 
line along said river and along the river St. Francis to the 
outlet of the Lake Pohenagamook ; and from the outlet of 
the said lake they shall ascertain, fix, and mark, by proper 
and durable monuments on the land, the line described 
in the first article of this treaty; and the said Commis- 
sioners shall make to each of their respective Governments 
a joint report or declaration, under their hands and seals, 
designating such line of boundary, and shall accompany 
such report or declaration with maps, certified by them to 
be true maps of the new boundary. 

222 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE VII 

It is further agreed that the channels in the river St. 
Lawrence on both sides of the Long Sault Islands and of 
Barnhart Island, the channels in the river Detroit on both 
sides of the island Bois Blanc, and between that island and 
both the American and Canadian shores, and all the several 
channels and passages between the various islands lying 
near the junction of the river St. Clair with the lake of 
that name, shall be equally free and open to the ships, 
vessels, and boats of both parties. 



ARTICLE VIII 

The parties mutually stipulate that each shall prepare, 
equip, and maintain in service on the coast of Africa a 
sufficient and adequate squadron or naval force of vessels 
of suitable numbers and descriptions, to carry in all not 
less than eighty guns, to enforce, separately and respec- 
tively, the laws, rights and obligations of each of the two 
countries for the suppression of the slave-trade, the said 
squadrons to be independent of each other, but the two 
Governments stipulating, nevertheless, to give such orders 
to the officers commanding their respective forces as shall 
enable them most effectually to act in concert and co-op- 
eration, upon mutual consultation, as exigencies may arise, 
for the attainment of the true object of this article, copies 
of all such orders to be communicated by each Govern- 
ment to the other, respectively. 

ARTICLE IX 

Whereas, notwithstanding all efforts which may be made 
on the coast of Africa for suppressing the slave-trade, the 

223 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

facilities for carrying on that traffic and avoiding the vigi- 
lance of cruisers, by the fraudulent use of flags and other 
means, are so great, and the temptations for pursuing it, 
while a market can be found for slaves, so strong, as that 
the desired result may be long delayed unless all markets 
be shut against the purchase of African negroes, the parties 
to this treaty agree that they will unite in all becoming 
representations and remonstrances with any and all Powers 
within whose dominions such markets are allowed to exist, 
and that they will urge upon all such Powers the propriety 
and duty of closing such markets effectually, at once and 
forever. 

ARTICLE X 

It is agreed that the United States and Her Britannic 
Majesty shall, upon mutual requisitions by them, or their 
Ministers, officers, or authorities, respectively made, de- 
liver up to justice all persons who, being charged with the 
crime of murder, or assault with intent to commit murder, 
or piracy, or arson, or robbery, or forgery, or the utter- 
ance of forged paper, committed within the jurisdiction of 
either, shall seek an asylum or shall be found within the 
territories of the other: Provided, that this shall only be 
done upon such evidence of criminality as, according to the 
laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged 
shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commit- 
ment for trial if the crime or offence had there been com- 
mitted; and the respective judges and other magistrates of 
the two Governments shall have power, jurisdiction, and 
authority, upon complaint made under oath, to issue a war- 
rant for the apprehension of the fugitive or person so 
charged, that he may be brought before such judges or 
other magistrates, respectively, to the end that the evidence 
of criminality may be heard and considered; and if, on 

224 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

such hearing, the evidence be deemed sufficient to sustain 
the charge, it shall be the duty of the examining judge or 
magistrate to certify the same to the proper executive au- 
thority, that a warrant may issue for the surrender of such 
fugitive. The expense of such apprehension and delivery 
shall be borne and defrayed by the party who makes the 
requisition and receives the fugitive. 

ARTICLE XI 

The eighth article of this treaty shall be in force for five 
years from the date of the exchange of the ratification, and 
afterwards until one or the other party shall signify a wish 
to terminate it. The tenth article shall continue in force 
until one or the other of the parties shall signify its wish 
to terminate it, and no longer. 

ARTICLE XII 

The present treaty shall be duly ratified, and the mutual 
exchange of ratification shall take place in London, within 
six months from the date hereof, or earlier if possible. 

In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 
have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals. 

Done in duplicate at Washington, the ninth day of Au- 
gust, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two. 

Danl. Webster [l. s.] 
ashburton [l. s.] 



225 



Treaty with Great Britain 1846 

Treaty between the United States of America and Her 
Britannic Majesty for Settlement of Boundary West of 
the Rocky Mountains,, Concluded at Washington, June 15, 
1846; Ratification Advised by Senate June 18, 1846; Rati- 
fied by President June 19, 1846; Ratifications Exchanged 
at London July 17, 1846; Proclaimed August 5, 1846. 

The United States of America and Her Majesty the 
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire- 
land, deeming it to be desirable for the future welfare of 
both countries that the state of doubt and uncertainty 
which has hitherto prevailed respecting the sovereignty and 
government of the territory on the northwest coast of 
America, lying westward of the Rocky or Stony Moun- 
tains, should be finally terminated by an amicable compro- 
mise of the rights mutually asserted by the two parties over 
the said territory, have respectively named Plenipotentiaries 
to treat and agree concerning the terms of such settlement, 
that is to say: 

The President of the United States of America has, on 
his part, furnished with full powers James Buchanan, 
Secretary of State of the United States, and Her Majesty 
the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland has, on her part, appointed the Right Honorable 
Richard Pakenham, a member of Her Majesty's Most Hon- 
orable Privy Council, and Her Majesty's Envoy Extraor- 
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States; 

Who, after having communicated to each other their 
respective full powers, found in good and due form, have 
agreed upon and concluded the following articles: 

226 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE I 

From the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north lati- 
tude, where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and 
conventions between the United States and Great Britain 
terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of 
the United States and those of Her Britannic Majesty 
shall be continued westward along the said forty-ninth 
parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel 
which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and 
thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, 
and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean: Provided, how- 
ever, that the navigation of the whole of the said channel 
and straits, south of the forty-ninth parallel of north lati- 
tude, remain free and open to both parties. 

ARTICLE II 

From the point at which the forty-ninth parallel of north 
latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern 
branch of the Columbia River, the navigation of the said 
branch shall be free and open to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, and to all British subjects trading with the same, to 
the point where the said branch meets the main stream of 
the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the 
ocean, with free access into and through the said river or 
rivers, it being understood that all the usual portages along 
the line thus described shall, in like manner, be free and 
open. In navigating the said river or rivers, British sub- 
jects, with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the 
same footing as citizens of the United States; it being, 
however, always understood that nothing in this article 
shall be construed as preventing, or intended to prevent, 
the Government of the United States from making any 

227 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or 
rivers not inconsistent with the present treaty. 



ARTICLE III 

In the future appropriation of the territory south of the 
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, as provided in the 
first article of this treaty, the possessory rights of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, and of all British subjects who may 
be already in the occupation of land or other property law- 
fully acquired within the said territory, shall be respected. 

ARTICLE IV 

The farms, lands, and other property of every descrip- 
tion belonging to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, 
on the north side of the Columbia River, shall be confirmed 
to the said company. In case, however, the situation of 
those farms and lands should be considered by the United 
States to be of public and political importance, and the 
United States Government should signify a desire to obtain 
possession of the whole, or of any part thereof, the prop- 
erty so required shall be transferred to the said Govern- 
ment, at a proper valuation, to be agreed upon between the 
parties. 

ARTICLE V 

The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of 
the United States, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic Majesty; and 
the ratifications shall be exchanged at London, at the ex- 
piration of six months from the date hereof, or sooner if 
possible. 

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have 

228 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their 
arras. 

Done at Washington the fifteenth day of June, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
six. 

Richard Pakenham [l. s.] 
James Buchanan [l. s.] 



229 



Treaty with Mexico 1848 

Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement be- 
tween the United States of America and the United Mex- 
ican States, Concluded at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 
1848; Ratification Advised by Senate, with Amendments, 
March 10, 1848; Ratified by President, March 16, 1848; 
Ratifications Exchanged at Queretaro, May 30, 1848; Pro- 
claimed, July 4, 1848. 

In the name of Almighty God: 

The United States of America and the United Mexican 
States, animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the 
calamities of the war which unhappily exists between the 
two Republics, and to establish upon a solid basis relations 
of peace and friendship, which shall confer reciprocal bene- 
fits upon the citizens of both, and assure the concord, har- 
mony, and mutual confidence wherein the two people should 
live, as good neighbours, have for that purpose appointed 
their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say: 

The President of the United States has appointed Nicho- 
las P. Trist, a citizen of the United States, and the Presi- 
dent of the Mexican Republic has appointed Don Luis 
Gonzaga Cuevas, Don Bernardo Couto, and Don Miguel 
Atristain, citizens of the said Republic; 

Who, after a reciprocal communication of their respec- 
tive full powers, have, under the protection of Almighty 
God, the author of peace, arranged, agreed upon, and 
signed the following: 

230 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement 

between the United States of America and the 

Mexican Republic. 

ARTICLE I 

There shall be firm and universal peace between the 
United States of America and the Mexican Republic, and 
between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns, 
and people, without exception of places or persons. 

ARTICLE II 

Immediately upon the signature of this treaty, a conven- 
tion shall be entered into between a commissioner or com- 
missioners appointed by the General-in-chief of the forces 
of the United States, and such as may be appointed by the 
Mexican Government, to the end that a provisional suspen- 
sion of hostilities shall take place, and that, in the places 
occupied by the said forces, constitutional order may be 
re-established, as regards the political, administrative, and 
judicial branches, so far as this shall be permitted by the 
circumstances of military occupation. 

ARTICLE III 

Immediately upon the ratification of the present treaty 
by the Government of the United States, orders shall be 
transmitted to the commanders of their land and naval 
forces, requiring the latter (provided this treaty shall then 
have been ratified by the Government of the Mexican 
Republic, and the ratifications exchanged) immediately to 

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desist from blockading any Mexican ports; and requiring 
the former (under the same condition) to commence, at 
the earliest moment practicable, withdrawing all troops of 
the United States then in the interior of the Mexican Repub- 
lic, to points that shall be selected by common agreement, 
at a distance from the seaports not exceeding thirty leagues ; 
and such evacuation of the interior of the Republic shall 
be completed with the least possible delay; the Mexican 
Government hereby binding itself to afford every facility 
in its power for rendering the same convenient to the troops, 
on their march and in their new positions, and for promoting 
a good understanding between them and the inhabitants. 
In like manner orders shall be despatched to the persons in 
charge of the custom-houses at all ports occupied by the 
forces of the United States, requiring them (under the same 
condition) immediately to deliver possession of the same to 
the persons authorized by the Mexican Government to receive 
it, together with all bonds and evidences of debt for duties 
on importations and on exportations, not yet fallen due. 
Moreover, a faithful and exact account shall be made out, 
showing the entire amount of all duties on imports and on 
exports, collected at such custom-houses, or elsewhere in 
Mexico, by authority of the United States, from and after 
the day of ratification of this treaty by the Government 
of the Mexican Republic; and also an account of the cost 
of collection; and such entire amount, deducting only the 
cost of collection, shall be delivered to the Mexican Govern- 
ment, at the city of Mexico, within three months after the 
exchange of ratifications. 

The evacuation of the capital of the Mexican Republic 
by the troops of the United States, in virtue of the above 
stipulation, shall be completed in one month after the orders 
there stipulated for shall have been received by the com- 
mander of said troops, or sooner if possible. 

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ARTICLE IV 

Immediately after the exchange of ratifications of the 
present treaty all castles, forts, territories, places, and pos- 
sessions, which have been taken or occupied by the forces of 
the United States during the present war, within the limits 
of the Mexican Republic, as about to be established by the 
following article, shall be definitively restored to the said 
Republic, together with all the artillery, arms, apparatus 
of war, munitions, and other public property, which were in 
the said castles and forts when captured, and which shall 
remain there at the time when this treaty shall be duly 
ratified by the Government of the Mexican Republic. To 
this end, immediately upon the signature of this treaty, 
orders shall be despatched to the American officers com- 
manding such castles and forts, securing against the remov- 
al or destruction of any such artillery, arms, apparatus 
of war, munitions, or other public property. The city of 
Mexico, within the inner line of intrenchments surrounding 
the said city, is comprehended in the above stipulation, as 
regards the restoration of artillery, apparatus of war, &c. 

The final evacuation of the territory of the Mexican 
Republic, by the forces of the United States, shall be com- 
pleted in three months from the said exchange of ratifica- 
tions, or sooner if possible ; the Mexican Government hereby 
engaging, as in the foregoing article, to use all means in 
its power for facilitating such evacuation, and rendering 
it convenient to the troops, and for promoting a good under- 
standing between them and the inhabitants. 

If, however, the ratification of this treaty by both parties 
should not take place in time to allow the embarcation of 
the troops of the United States to be completed before 
the commencement of the sickly season, at the Mexican 
ports on the Gulf of Mexico, in such case a friendly arrange- 

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ment shall be entered into between the General-in-chief of 
the said troops and the Mexican Government, whereby 
healthy and otherwise suitable places, at a distance from the 
ports not exceeding thirty leagues, shall be designated for 
the residence of such troops as may not yet have embarked, 
until the return of the healthy season. And the space of 
time here referred to as comprehending the sickly season 
shall be understood to extend from the first day of May to 
the first day of November. 

All prisoners of war taken on either side, on land or on 
sea, shall be restored as soon as practicable after the 
exchange of ratifications of this treaty. It is also agreed 
that if any Mexicans should now be held as captives by any 
savage tribe within the limits of the United States, as about 
to be established by the following article, the Government 
of the said United States will exact the release of such cap- 
tives, and cause them to be restored to their country. 



article v 

The boundary line between the two Republics shall com- 
mence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, oppo- 
site the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio 
Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its deepest 
branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying 
directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that 
river, following the deepest channel, where it has more than 
one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of 
New Mexico ; thence, westwardly, along the whole southern 
boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town 
called Paso) to its western termination; thence, northward, 
along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects 
the first branch of the river Gila ; (or if it should not inter- 
sect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said 

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line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to 
the same) ; thence down the middle of the said branch and 
of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; 
thence across the Rio Colorado, following the division line 
between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean. 

The southern and western limits of New Mexico, men- 
tioned in this article, are those laid down in the map entitled 
" Map of the United Mexican States, as organised and 
defined by various acts of the Congress of said republic, 
and constructed according to the best authorities. ; Revised 
edition. Published at New York, in 1847, by J. Disturnell;" 
of which map a copy is added to this treaty, bearing the 
signatures and seals of the undersigned Plenipotentiaries. 
And, in order to preclude all difficulty in tracing upon the 
ground the limit separating Upper from Lower California, 
it is agreed that the said limit shall consist of a straight 
line drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites 
with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of the Pacific 
Ocean, distant one marine league due south of the southern- 
most point of the port of San Diego, according to the plan 
of said port made in the year 1782 by Don Juan Pantoja, 
second sailing-master of the Spanish fleet, and published 
at Madrid in the year 1802, in the atlas to the voyage of 
the schooners Sutil and Mexicana; of which plan a copy is 
hereunto added, signed and sealed by the respective Pleni- 
potentiaries. 

In order to designate the boundary line with due preci- 
sion, upon authoritative maps, and to establish upon the 
ground land-marks which shall show the limits of both 
republics, as described in the present article, the two 
Governments shall each appoint a commissioner and a sur- 
veyor, who, before the expiration of one year from the date 
of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, shall meet 
at the port of San Diego, and proceed to run and mark the 

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said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Rio 
Bravo del Norte. They shall keep journals and make out 
plans of their operations; and the result agreed upon by 
them shall be deemed a part of this treaty, and shall have 
the same force as if it were inserted therein. The two 
Governments will amicably agree regarding what may be 
necessary to these persons, and also as to their respective 
escorts, should such be necessary. 

The boundary line established by this article shall be 
religiously respected by each of the two republics, and no 
change shall ever be made therein, except by the express 
and free consent of both nations, lawfully given by the 
General Government of each, in conformity with its own 
constitution. 

ARTICLE VI 

The vessels and citizens of the United States shall, in 
all time, have a free and uninterrupted passage by the Gulf 
of California, and by the river Colorado below its conflu- 
ence with the Gila, to and from their possessions situated 
north of the boundary line defined in the preceding article; 
it being understood that this passage is to be by navigating 
the Gulf of California and the river Colorado, and not by 
land, without the express consent of the Mexican Govern- 
ment. 

If, by the examinations which may be made, it should be 
ascertained to be practicable and advantageous to construct 
a road, canal, or railway, which should in whole or in part run 
upon the river Gila, or upon its right or its left bank, within 
the space of one marine league from either margin of the 
river, the Governments of both republics will form an agree- 
ment regarding its construction, in order that it may serve 
equally for the use and advantage of both countries. 

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ARTICLE VII 

The river Gila, and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte 
lying below the southern boundary of New Mexico, being, 
agreeably to the fifth article, divided in the middle between 
the two republics, the navigation of the Gila and of the 
Bravo below said boundary shall be free and common to 
the vessels and citizens of both countries ; and neither shall, 
without the consent of the other, construct any work that 
may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise 
of this right; not even for the purpose of favoring new 
methods of navigation. Nor shall any tax or contribution, 
under any denomination or title, be levied upon vessels or 
persons navigating the same, or upon merchandise or effects 
transported thereon, except in the case of landing upon one 
of their shores. If, for the purpose of making the said 
rivers navigable, or for maintaining them in such state, it 
should be necessary or advantageous to establish any tax 
or contribution, this shall not be done without the consent 
of both Governments. 

The stipulations contained in the present article shall not 
impair the territorial rights of either republic within its 
established limits. 

ARTICLE VIII 

Mexicans now established in territories previously belong- 
ing to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the 
limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty, 
shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove 
at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property 
which they possess in the said territories, or disposing 
thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please, 
without their being subj ected, on this account, to any contri- 
bution, tax, or charge whatever. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories 
may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, 
or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But they 
shall be under the obligation to make their election within 
one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of 
this treaty; and those who shall remain in the said terri- 
tories after the expiration of that year, without having 
declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans, 
shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the 
United States. 

In the said territories, property of every kind, now 
belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be invio- 
lably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these, 
and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property 
by contract, shall enjoy with respect to it guarantees equally 
ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United 
States. 

ARTICLE IX 

The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not 
preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, 
conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, 
shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States, 
and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by 
the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all 
the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the 
principles of the Constitution ; and in the mean time, shall 
be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their 
liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of 
their religion without restriction. 

ARTICLE X 

[Stricken out.] 
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XI 



Considering that a great part of the territories, which, 
by the present treaty, are to be comprehended for the future 
within the limits of the United States, is now occupied by 
savage tribes, who will hereafter be under the exclusive con- 
troul of the Government of the United States, and whose 
incursions within the territory of Mexico would be preju- 
dicial in the extreme, it is solemnly agreed that all such 
incursions shall be forcibly restrained by the Government 
of the United States whensoever this may be necessary; 
and that when they cannot be prevented, they shall be pun- 
ished by the said Government, and satisfaction for the same 
shall be exacted — all in the same way, and with equal dili- 
gence and energy, as if the same incursions were meditated 
or committed within its own territory, against its own 
citizens. 

It shall not be lawful, under any pretext whatever, for 
any inhabitant of the United States to purchase or acquire 
any Mexican, or any foreigner residing in Mexico, who 
may have been captured by Indians inhabiting the territory 
of either of the two republics; nor to purchase or acquire 
horses, mules, cattle, or property of any kind, stolen within 
Mexican territory by such Indians. 

And in the event of any person or persons, captured 
within Mexican territory by Indians, being carried into the 
territory of the United States, the Government of the latter 
engages and binds itself, in the most solemn manner, so soon 
as it shall know of such captives being within its territory, 
and shall be able so to do, through the faithful exercise of 
its influence and power, to rescue them and return them to 
their country, or deliver them to the agent or representative 
of the Mexican Government. The Mexican authorities will, 
as far as practicable, give to the Government of the United 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

States notice of such captures ; and its agents shall pay the 
expenses incurred in the maintenance and transmission of 
the rescued captives ; who, in the mean time, shall be treated 
with the utmost hospitality by the American authorities at 
the place where they may be. But if the Government of the 
United States, before receiving such notice from Mexico, 
should obtain intelligence, through any other channel, of 
the existence of Mexican captives within its territory, it 
will proceed forthwith to effect their release and delivery 
to the Mexican agent, as above stipulated. 

For the purpose of giving to these stipulations the fullest 
possible efficacy, thereby affording the security and redress 
demanded by their true spirit and intent, the Government of 
the United States will now and hereafter pass, without 
unnecessary delay, and always vigilantly enforce, such laws 
as the nature of the subject may require. And, finally, 
the sacredness of this obligation shall never be lost sight of 
by the said Government, when providing for the removal 
of the Indians from any portion of the said territories, or 
for its being settled by citizens of the United States; but, 
on the contrary, special care shall then be taken not to place 
its Indian occupants under the necessity of seeking new 
homes, by committing those invasions which the United 
States have solemnly obliged themselves to restrain. 



ARTICLE XII 

In consideration of the extension acquired by the boun- 
daries of the United States, as denned in the fifth article 
of the present treaty, the Government of the United States 
engages to pay to that of the Mexican Republic the sum of 
fifteen millions of dollars. 

Immediately after this treaty shall have been duly rati- 
fied by the Government of the Mexican Republic, the sum of 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

three millions of dollars shall be paid to the said Govern- 
ment by that of the United States, at the city of Mexico, 
in the gold or silver coin of Mexico. The remaining twelve 
millions of dollars shall be paid at the same place, and in 
the same coin, in annual instalments of three millions of 
dollars each, together with interest on the same at the rate 
of six per centum per annum. This interest shall begin to 
run upon the whole sum of twelve millions from the day of 
the ratification of the present treaty by the Mexican Govern- 
ment, and the first of the instalments shall be paid at the 
expiration of one year from the same day. Together with 
each annual instalment, as it falls due, the whole interest 
accruing on such instalment from the beginning shall also 
be paid. 

ARTICLE XIII 

The United States engage, moreover, to assume and pay 
to the claimants all the amounts now due them, and those 
hereafter to become due, by reason of the claims already 
liquidated and decided against the Mexican Republic, under 
the conventions between the two republics severally con- 
cluded on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and 
thirty-nine, and on the thirtieth day of January, eighteen 
hundred and forty-three; so that the Mexican Republic 
shall be absolutely exempt, for the future, from all expense 
whatever on account of the said claims. 



ARTICLE XIV 

The United States do furthermore discharge the Mexican 
Republic from all claims of citizens of the United States, 
not heretofore decided against the Mexican Government, 
which may have arisen previously to the date of the signa- 
ture of this treaty; which discharge shall be final and per- 

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petual, whether the said claims be rejected or be allowed 
by the board of commissioners provided for in the following 
article, and whatever shall be the total amount of those 
allowed. 

ARTICLE xv 

The United States, exonerating Mexico from all demands 
on account of the claims of their citizens mentioned in the 
preceding article, and considering them entirely and forever 
cancelled, whatever their amount may be, undertake to make 
satisfaction for the same, to an amount not exceeding 
three and one-quarter millions of dollars. To ascertain the 
validity and amount of those claims, a board of commis- 
sioners shall be established by the Government of the United 
States, whose awards shall be final and conclusive; pro- 
vided that, in deciding upon the validity of each claim, the 
board shall be guided and governed by the principles and 
rules of decision prescribed by the first and fifth articles 
of the unratified convention, concluded at the city of Mex- 
ico on the twentieth day of November, one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-three; and in no case shall an award 
be made in favour of any claim not embraced by these 
principles and rules. 

If, in the opinion of the said board of commissioners 
or of the claimants, any books, records, or documents, in 
the possession or power of the Government of the Mexican 
Republic, shall be deemed necessary to the just decision 
of any claim, the commissioners, or the claimants through 
them, shall, within such period as Congress may designate, 
make an application in writing for the same, addressed 
to the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, to be trans- 
mitted by the Secretary of State of the United States; 
and the Mexican Government engages, at the earliest possi- 
ble moment after the receipt of such demand, to cause any 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

of the books, records, or documents so specified, which 
shall be in their possession or power (or authenticated 
copies or extracts of the same), to be transmitted to the said 
Secretary of State, who shall immediately deliver them over 
to the said board of commissioners; provided that no such 
application shall be made by or at the instance of any claim- 
ant, until the facts which it is expected to prove by such 
books, records, or documents, shall have been stated under 
oath or affirmation. 

ARTICLE XVI 

Each of the contracting parties reserves to itself the 
entire right to fortify whatever point within its territory 
it may judge proper so to fortify for its security. 

ARTICLE XVII 

The treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, concluded 
at the city of Mexico on the fifth day of April, A. D. 
1831, between the United States of America and the United 
Mexican States, except the additional article, and except 
so far as the stipulations of the said treaty may be incom- 
patible with any stipulation contained in the present treaty, 
is hereby revived for the period of eight years from the day 
of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, with the 
same force and virtue as if incorporated therein; it being 
understood that each of the contracting parties reserves to 
itself the right, at any time after the said period of eight 
years shall have expired, to terminate the same by giving 
one year's notice of such intention to the other party. 

ARTICLE XVIII 

All supplies whatever for troops of the United States 
in Mexico, arriving at ports in the occupation of such 

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troops previous to the final evacuation thereof, although 
subsequently to the restoration of the custom-houses at 
such ports, shall be entirely exempt from duties and charges 
of any kind; the Government of the United States hereby 
engaging and pledging its faith to establish and vigilantly 
to enforce, all possible guards for securing the revenue of 
Mexico, by preventing the importation, under cover of this 
stipulation, of any articles other than such, both in kind 
and in quantity, as shall really be wanted for the use and 
consumption of the forces of the United States during the 
time they may remain in Mexico. To this end it shall be 
the duty of all officers and agents of the United States to 
denounce to the Mexican authorities at the respective ports 
any attempts at a fraudulent abuse of this stipulation, 
which they may know of, or may have reason to suspect, 
and to give to such authorities all the aid in their power 
with regard thereto; and every such attempt, when duly 
proved and established by sentence of a competent tribunal, 
shall be punished by the confiscation of the property so 
attempted to be fraudulently introduced. 



ARTICLE XIX 

With respect to all merchandise, effects, and property 
whatsoever, imported into ports of Mexico, whilst in the 
occupation of the forces of the United States, whether by 
citizens of either republic, or by citizens or subjects of 
any neutral nation, the following rules shall be observed: 

(1) All such merchandise, effects, and property, if im- 
ported previously to the restoration of the custom-houses 
to the Mexican authorities, as stipulated for in the third 
article of this treaty, shall be exempt from confiscation, 
although the importation of the same be prohibited by the 
Mexican tariff. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

(2) The same perfect exemption shall be enjoyed by 
all such merchandise, effects, and property, imported 
subsequently to the restoration of the custom-houses, and 
previously to the sixty days fixed in the following article 
for the coming into force of the Mexican tariff at such 
ports respectively; the said merchandise, effects, and prop- 
erty being, however, at the time of their importation, sub- 
ject to the payment of duties, as provided for in the said 
following article. 

(3) All merchandise, effects, and property described in 
the two rules foregoing shall, during their continuance at 
the place of importation, and upon their leaving such place 
for the interior, be exempt from all duty, tax, or imposts 
of every kind, under whatsoever title or denomination. Nor 
shall they be there subjected to any charge whatsoever upon 
the sale thereof. 

(4) All merchandise, effects, and property, described in 
the first and second rules, which shall have been removed 
to any place in the interior whilst such place was in the 
occupation of the forces of the United States, shall, during 
their continuance therein, be exempt from all tax upon the 
sale or consumption thereof, and from every kind of impost 
or contribution, under whatsoever title or denomination. 

(5) But if any merchandise, effects, or property, 
described in the first and second rules, shall be removed 
to any place not occupied at the time by the forces of the 
United States, they shall, upon their introduction into such 
place, or upon their sale or consumption there, be subject 
to the same duties which, under the Mexican laws, they 
would be required to pay in such cases if they had been 
imported in time of peace, through the maritime custom- 
houses, and had there paid the duties conformably with the 
Mexican tariff. 

(6) The owners of all merchandise, effects, or property, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

described in the first and second rules, and existing in any- 
port of Mexico, shall have the right to reship the same, 
exempt from all tax, impost, or contribution whatever. 

With respect to the metals, or other property, exported 
from any Mexican port whilst in the occupation of the 
forces of the United States, and previously to the resto- 
ration of the custom-house at such port, no person shall be 
required by the Mexican authorities, whether general or 
state, to pay any tax, duty, or contribution upon any such 
exportation, or in any manner to account for the same to 
the said authorities. 

ARTICLE xx 

Through consideration for the interests of commerce 
generally, it is agreed, that if less than sixty days should 
elapse between the date of the signature of this treaty and 
the restoration of the custom-houses, conformably with the 
stipulation in the third article, in such case all merchan- 
dise, effects, and property whatsoever, arriving at the 
Mexican ports after the restoration of the said custom- 
houses, and previously to the expiration of sixty days after 
the day of signature of this treaty, shall be admitted to 
entry; and no other duties shall be levied thereon than 
the duties established by the tariff found in force at such 
custom-houses at the time of the restoration of the same. 
And to all such merchandise, effects, and property, the rules 
established by the preceding article shall apply. 



ARTICLE XXI 

If unhappily any disagreement should hereafter arise 
between the Governments of the two republics, whether with 
respect to the interpretation of any stipulation in this treaty, 
or with respect to any other particular concerning the polit- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ical or commercial relations of the two nations, the said 
Governments, in the name of those nations, do promise to 
each other that they will endeavour, in the most sincere 
and earnest manner, to settle the differences so arising, and 
to preserve the state of peace and friendship in which the 
two countries are now placing themselves, using, for this 
end, mutual representations and pacific negotiations. And 
if, by these means, they should not be enabled to come to 
an agreement, a resort shall not, on this account, be had to 
reprisals, aggression, or hostility of any kind, by the one 
republic against the other, until the Government of that 
which deems itself aggrieved shall have maturely considered, 
in the spirit of peace and good neighbourship, whether it 
would not be better that such difference should be settled 
by the arbitration of commissioners appointed on each side, 
or by that of a friendly nation. And should such course 
be proposed by either party, it shall be acceded to by the 
other, unless deemed by it altogether incompatible with 
the nature of the difference, or the circumstances of the 
case. 

ARTICLE XXII 

If (which is not to be expected, and which God forbid) 
war should unhappily break out between the two republics, 
they do now, with a view to such calamity, solemnly pledge 
themselves to each other and to the world to observe the 
following rules; absolutely where the nature of the sub- 
ject permits, and as closely as possible in all cases where 
such absolute observance shall be impossible: 

(1) The merchants of either republic then residing in 
the other shall be allowed to remain twelve months (for 
those dwelling in the interior), and six months (for those 
dwelling at the seaports) to collect their debts and settle 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

their affairs; during which periods they shall enjoy the same 
protection, and be on the same footing, in all respects, as 
the citizens or subjects of the most friendly nations; and, 
at the expiration thereof, or at any time before, they shall 
have full liberty to depart, carrying off all their effects 
without molestation or hindrance, conforming therein to the 
same laws which the citizens or subjects of the most friendly 
nations are required to conform to. Upon the entrance of 
the armies of either nation into the territories of the other, 
women and children, ecclesiastics, scholars of every faculty, 
cultivators of the earth, merchants, artisans, manufacturers, 
and fishermen, unarmed and inhabiting unfortified towns, 
villages, or places, and in general all persons whose occupa- 
tions are for the common subsistence and benefit of man- 
kind, shall be allowed to continue their respective employ- 
ments, unmolested in their persons. Nor shall their houses 
or goods be burnt or otherwise destroyed, nor their cattle 
taken, nor their fields wasted, by the armed force into whose 
power, by the events of war, they may happen to fall; 
but if the necessity arise to take anything from them for 
the use of such armed force, the same shall be paid for at 
an equitable price. All churches, hospitals, schools, colleges, 
libraries, and other establishments for charitable and benefi- 
cent purposes, shall be respected, and all persons connected 
with the same protected in the discharge of their duties, 
and the pursuit of their vocations. 

(2) In order that the fate of prisoners of war may be 
alleviated, all such practices as those of sending them into 
distant, inclement, or unwholesome districts, or crowding 
them into close and noxious places, shall be studiously 
avoided. They shall not be confined in dungeons, prison- 
ships, or prisons ; nor be put in irons, or bound, or otherwise 
restrained in the use of their limbs. The officers shall enjoy 
liberty on their paroles, within convenient districts, and have 

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comfortable quarters; and the common soldier shall be dis- 
posed in cantonments, open and entensive enough for air 
and exercise, and lodged in barracks as roomy and good as 
are provided by the party in whose power they are for 
its own troops. But if any officer shall break his parole 
by leaving the district so assigned him, or any other 
prisoner shall escape from the limits of his cantonment, 
after they shall have been designated to him, such indi- 
vidual, officer, or other prisoner, shall forfeit so much of the 
benefit of this article as provides for his liberty on parole 
or in cantonment. And if any officer so breaking his parole, 
or any common soldier so escaping from the limits assigned 
him, shall afterwards be found in arms, previously to his 
being regularly exchanged, the person so offending shall 
be dealt with according to the established laws of war. 
The officers shall be daily furnished, by the party in whose 
power they are, with as many rations, and of the same arti- 
cles, as are allowed, either in kind or by commutation, to 
officers of equal rank in its own army; and all others shall 
be daily furnished with such ration as is allowed to a 
common soldier in its own service; the value of all which 
supplies shall, at the close of the war, or at periods to be 
agreed upon between the respective commanders, be paid by 
the other party, on a mutual adjustment of accounts for the 
subsistence of prisoners; and such accounts shall not be 
mingled with or set off against any others, nor the balance 
due on them be withheld, as a compensation or reprisal for 
any cause whatever, real or pretended. Each party shall 
be allowed to keep a commissary of prisoners, appointed 
by itself, with every cantonment of prisoners, in possession 
of the other; which commissary shall see the prisoners as 
often as he pleases; shall be allowed to receive, exempt 
from all duties or taxes, and to distribute, whatever comforts 
may be sent to them by their friends; and shall be free to 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

transmit his reports in open letters to the party by whom 
he is employed. 

And it is declared that neither the pretence that war dis- 
solves all treaties, nor any other whatever, shall be con- 
sidered as annulling or suspending the solemn covenant 
contained in this article. On the contrary, the state of war 
is precisely that for which it is provided ; and, during which, 
its stipulations are to be as sacredly observed as the most 
acknowledged obligations under the law of nature or 
nations. 

ARTICLE XXIII 

This treaty shall be ratified by the President of the 
United States of America, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate thereof; and by the President of the 
Mexican Republic, with the previous approbation of its 
general Congress; and the ratifications shall be exchanged 
in the city of Washington, or at the seat of Government of 
Mexico, in four months from the date of the signature 
hereof, or sooner if practicable. 

In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 
have signed this treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and 
settlement, and have hereunto affixed our seals respectively. 
Done in quintuplicate, at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
on the second day of February, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. 

N. P. Trist [l. s.] 

Luis P. Cuevas [l. s.] 
Bernardo Couto [l. s.] 
Migl. Atristain [l. s.] 



250 



Treaty with Great Britain 1850 

Convention between the United States of America and 
Her Britannic Majesty Relative to a Ship-canal by way of 
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part 
of Central America, Concluded at Washington, April 19, 
1850; Ratification Advised by the Senate, May 22, 1850; 
Ratified by the President, May 23, 1850; Ratifications Ex- 
changed at Washington, July 4, 1850; Proclaimed July 
5, 1850. 

The United States of America and Her Britannic Ma- 
jesty, being desirous of consolidating the relations of amity 
which so happily subsist between them by setting forth 
and fixing in a convention their views and intentions with 
reference to any means of communication by ship-canal 
which may be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans by the way of the river San Juan de Nicaragua, 
and either or both of the lakes of N::aragua or Managua, 
to any port or place on the Pacific Ocean, the President 
of the United States has conferred full powers on John 
M. Clayton, Secretary of State of the United States, and 
Her Britannic Majesty on the Right Honorable Sir Henry 
Lytton Bulwer, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honor- 
able Privy Council, Knight Commander of the Most Hon- 
orable Order of the Bath, and Envoy Extraordinary and 
Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the 
United States, for the aforesaid purpose; and the said 
Plenipotentiaries, having exchanged their full powers, 
which were found to be in proper form, have agreed to 
the following articles: 

251 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE I 

The Governments of the United States and Great 
Britain hereby declare that neither the one nor the other 
will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive con- 
trol over the said ship-canal ; agreeing that neither will ever 
erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same, 
or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, 
or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa 
Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America; 
nor will either make use of any protection which either 
affords or may afford, or any alliance which either has or 
may have to or with any State or people for the purpose 
of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of 
occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, 
the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America, or of 
assuming or exercising dominion over the same; nor will 
the United States or Great Britain take advantage of any 
intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influence that 
either may possess, with any State or Government through 
whose territory the said canal may pass, for the purpose of 
acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the citizens 
or subjects of the one any rights or advantages in regard 
to commerce or navigation through the said canal which 
shall not be offered on the same terms to the citizens or 
subjects of the other. 

ARTICLE II 

Vessels of the United States or Great Britain traversing 
the said canal shall, in case of war between the contracting 
parties, be exempted from blockade, detention, or capture 
by either of the belligerents ; and this provision shall extend 
to such a distance from the two ends of the said canal as 
may hereafter be found expedient to establish. 

252 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE III 

In order to secure the construction of the said canal, the 
contracting parties engage that, if any such canal shall 
be undertaken upon fair and equitable terms by any parties 
having the authority of the local government or govern- 
ments through whose territory the same may pass, then 
the persons employed in making the said canal, and their 
property used or to be used for that object, shall be pro- 
tected, from the commencement of the said canal to its 
completion, by the Governments of the United States and 
Great Britain, from unjust detention, confiscation, seizure, 
or any violence whatsoever. 



ARTICLE IV 

The contracting parties will use whatever influence they 
respectively exercise with any State, States, or Govern- 
ments possessing, or claiming to possess, any jurisdiction 
or right over the territory which the said canal shall 
traverse, or which shall be near the waters applicable 
thereto, in order to induce such States or Governments to 
facilitate the construction of the said canal by every means 
in their power; and furthermore, the United States and 
Great Britain agree to use their good offices, wherever or 
however it may be most expedient, in order to procure the 
establishment of two free ports, one at each end of the 
said canal. 

article v 

The contracting parties further engage that when the 
said canal shall have been completed they will protect it 
from interruption, seizure, or unjust confiscation, and that 
they will guarantee the neutrality thereof, so that the said 

253 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

canal may forever be open and free, and the capital in- 
vested therein secure. Nevertheless, the Governments of 
the United States and Great Britain, in according their 
protection to the construction of the said canal, and guar- 
anteeing its neutrality and security when completed, always 
understand that this protection and guarantee are granted 
conditionally, and may be withdrawn by both Governments, 
or either Government, if both Governments or either Gov- 
ernment should deem that the persons or company under- 
taking or managing the same adopt or establish such 
regulations concerning the traffic thereupon as are contrary 
to the spirit and intention of this convention, either by 
making unfair discriminations in favor of the commerce of 
one of the contracting parties over the commerce of the 
other, or by imposing oppressive exactions or unreasonable 
tolls upon passengers, vessels, goods, wares, merchandise, 
or other articles. Neither party, however, shall withdraw 
the aforesaid protection and guarantee without first giving 
six months' notice to the other. 



ARTICLE VI 

The contracting parties in this convention engage to in- 
vite every State with which both or either have friendly 
intercourse to enter into stipulations with them similar to 
those which they have entered into with each other, to the 
end that all other States may share in the honor and ad- 
vantage of having contributed to a work of such general 
interest and importance as the canal herein contemplated. 
And the contracting parties likewise agree that each shall 
enter into treaty stipulations with such of the Central 
American States as they may deem advisable for the pur- 
pose of more effectually carrying out the great design of 
this convention, namely, that of constructing and maintain- 

254 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ing the said canal as a ship communication between the 
two oceans, for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to 
all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree that 
the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested 
by the other, in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such 
treaty stipulations; and should any differences arise as to 
right or property over the territory through which the said 
canal shall pass, between the States or Governments of 
Central America, and such differences should in any way 
impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the 
Governments of the United States and Great Britain will 
use their good offices to settle such differences in the man- 
ner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, 
and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance 
which exist between the contracting parties. 



ARTICLE VII 

It being desirable that no time should be unnecessarily 
lost in commencing and constructing the said canal, the 
Governments of the United States and Great Britain de- 
termine to give their support and encouragement to such 
persons or company as may first offer to commence the 
same, with the necessary capital, the consent of the local 
authorities, and on such principles as accord with the spirit 
and intention of this convention; and if any persons or 
company should already have, with any State through 
which the proposed ship-canal may pass, a contract for the 
construction of such a canal as that specified in this con- 
vention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the 
contracting parties in this convention have any just cause 
to object, and the said persons or company shall, more- 
over, have made preparations and expended time, money, 
and trouble on the faith of such contract, it is hereby 

255 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

agreed that such persons or company shall have a priority 
of claim over every other person, persons, or company to 
the protection of the Governments of the United States and 
Great Britain, and be allowed a year from the date of the 
exchange of the ratifications of this convention for con- 
cluding their arrangements and presenting evidence of 
sufficient capital subscribed to accomplish the contemplated 
undertaking; it being understood that if,, at the expiration 
of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not 
able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprize, 
then the Governments of the United States and Great 
Britain shall be free to afford their protection to any other 
persons or company that shall be prepared to commence 
and proceed with the construction of the canal in question. 



ARTICLE VIII 

The Governments of the United States and Great Britain 
having not only desired, in entering into this convention, 
to accomplish a particular object, but also to establish a 
general principle, they hereby agree to extend their pro- 
tection, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable com- 
munications, whether by canal or railway, across the 
isthmus which connects North and South America, and 
especially to the interoceanic communications, should the 
same prove to be practicable, whether by Ganal or railway, 
which are now proposed to be established by the way of 
Tehuantepec or Panama. In granting, however, their joint 
protection to any such canals or railways as are by this 
article specified, it is always understood by the United 
States and Great Britain that the parties constructing or 
owning the same shall impose no other charges or condi- 
tions of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid Governments 
shall approve of as just and equitable; and that the same 

256 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

canals or railways, being open to the citizens and subjects 
of the United States and Great Britain on equal terms, 
shall also be open on like terms to the citizens and sub- 
jects of every other State which is willing to grant thereto 
such protection as the United States and Great Britain 
engage to afford. 

ARTICLE IX 

The ratifications of this convention shall be exchanged 
at Washington within six months from this day, or sooner 
if possible. 

In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 
have signed this convention, and have hereunto affixed our 



Done at Washington the nineteenth day of April, anno 
Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty. 

John M. Clayton [l. s.] 

Henry Lytton Bulwer [l. s.] 



257 



Compromise of 1850 

clay's resolution 

It being desirable, for the peace, concord, and harmony 
of the Union of these States, to settle and adjust amicably 
all existing questions of controversy between them arising 
out of the institution of slavery upon a fair, equitable and 
just basis: therefore, 

(1) Resolved, That California, with suitable boundaries, 
ought, upon her application to be admitted as one of the 
States of this Union, without the imposition by Congress 
of any restriction in respect to the exclusion or introduc- 
tion of slavery within those boundaries. 

(2) Resolved, That as slavery does not exist by law, and 
is not likely to be introduced into any of the territory 
acquired by the United States from the republic of Mexico, 
it is inexpedient for Congress to provide by law either for 
its introduction into, or exclusion from, any part of the said 
territory; and that appropriate territorial governments 
ought to be established by Congress in all of the said terri- 
tory, not assigned as the boundaries of the proposed State 
of California, without the adoption of any restriction or 
condition on the subject of slavery. 

(3) Resolved, That the western boundary of the State 
of Texas ought to be fixed on the Rio del Norte, com- 
mencing one marine league from its mouth, and running 
up that river to the southern line of New Mexico; thence 
with that line eastwardly, and so continuing in the same 
direction to the line as established between the United 
States and Spain, excluding any portion of New Mexico, 
whether lying on the east or west of that river. 

(4) Resolved, That it be proposed to the State of Texas, 

258 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

that the United States will provide for the payment of all 
that portion of the legitimate and bona fide public debt of 
that State contracted prior to its annexation to the United 
States, and for which the duties on foreign imports were 
pledged by the said State to its creditors, not exceeding 

the sum of dollars, in consideration of the said 

duties so pledged having been no longer applicable to that 
object after the said annexation, but having thenceforward 
become payable to the United States; and upon the condi- 
tion, also, that the said State of Texas shall, by some solemn 
and authentic act of her legislature or of a convention, 
relinquish to the United States any claim which it has 
to any part of New Mexico. 

(5) Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery 
in the District of Columbia whilst that institution continues 
to exist in the State of Maryland, without the consent of 
that State, without the consent of the people of the Dis- 
trict, and without just compensation to the owners of slaves 
within the District. 

(6) But, resolved, That it is expedient to prohibit, within 
the District, the slave trade in slaves brought into it from 
States or places beyond the limits of the District, either 
to be sold therein as merchandise, or to be transported to 
other markets without the District of Columbia. 

(7) Resolved, That more effectual provision ought to be 
made by law, according to the requirement of the constitu- 
tion, for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to 
service or labor in any State, who may escape into any other 
State or Territory in the Union. And, 

(8) Resolved, That Congress has no power to prohibit 
or obstruct the trade in slaves between the slaveholding 
States ; but that the admission or exclusion of slaves brought 
from one into another of them, depends exclusively upon 
their own particular laws. 

259 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



RECAPITULATION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF 
THIRTEEN 

. . . The views and recommendations contained in this 
report may be recapitulated in a few words : 

(1) The admission of any new State or States formed out 
of Texas to be postponed until they shall hereafter present 
themselves to be received into the Union, when it will be the 
duty of Congress fairly and faithfully to execute the com- 
pact with Texas by admitting such new State or States; 

(2) The admission forthwith of California into the 
Union, with the boundaries which she has proposed ; 

(3) The establishment of territorial governments, with- 
out the Wilmot proviso, for New Mexico and Utah, embrac- 
ing all the territory recently acquired by the United States 
from Mexico not contained in the boundaries of California ; 

(4) The combination of these two last-mentioned meas- 
ures in the same bill ; 

(5) The establishment of the western and northern boun- 
dary of Texas, and the exclusion from her jurisdiction of 
all New Mexico, with the grant to Texas of a pecuniary 
equivalent; and the section for that purpose to be incorpo- 
rated in the bill admitting California and establishing 
territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico; 

(6) More effectual enactments of law to secure the 
prompt delivery of persons bound to service or labor in one 
State, under the laws thereof, who escape into another State ; 
and, 

(7) Abstaining from abolishing slavery; but, under a 
heavy penalty, prohibiting the slave trade in the District 
of Columbia. 



260 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

UTAH ACT 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
bled, That all that part of the territory of the United States 
included within the following limits, to wit: bounded on 
the west by the State of California, on the north by the 
Territory of Oregon, and on the east by the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains, and on the south by the thirty-seventh 
parallel of north latitude, be, and the same is hereby, cre- 
ated into a temporary government, by the name of the Terri- 
tory of Utah; and, when admitted as a State, the said 
Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into 
the Union, with or without slavery, as their constitution may 
prescribe at the time of their admission: Provided, That 
nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit 
the government of the United States from dividing said 
Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and 
at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, 
or from attaching any portion of said Territory to any other 
State or Territory of the United States. . . . 

Approved, Sept. 9, 1850. 

TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO ACT 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That the following propositions shall be, and the same 
hereby are, offered to the State of Texas, which, when 
agreed to by the said State, in an act passed by the general 
assembly, shall be binding and obligatory, upon the United 
States, and upon the said State of Texas: Provided, The 
said agreement by the said general assembly shall be given 
on or before the first day of December, eighteen hundred 
and fifty: 

261 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

First. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary 
on the north shall commence at the point at which the 
meridian of one hundred degrees west from Greenwich is 
intersected by the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty min- 
utes north latitude, and shall run from said point due west 
to the meridian of one hundred and three degrees west from 
Greenwich; thence her boundary shall run due south to 
the thirty-second degree of north latitude; thence on the 
said parallel of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the 
Rio Bravo del Norte, thence with the channel of said river 
to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Second. The State of Texas cedes to the United States 
all her claim to territory exterior to the limits and boun- 
daries which she agrees to establish by the first article of 
this agreement. 

Third. The State of Texas relinquishes all claim upon 
the United States for liability of the debts of Texas, and 
for compensation or indemnity for the surrender to the 
United States of her ships, forts, arsenals, custom-houses, 
custom-house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and 
public buildings with their sites, which became the property 
of the United States at the time of the annexation. 

Fourth. The United States, in consideration of said 
establishment of boundaries, cession of claim to territory, 
relinquishment of claims, will pay to the State of Texas 
the sum of ten millions of dollars in a stock bearing five 
per cent, interest, and redeemable at the end of fourteen 
years, the interest payable half-yearly at the treasury of 
the United States. 



Sec. 2 And it be further enacted, That all that portion 
of the Territory of the United States bounded as follows: 
Beginning at a point in the Colorado River where the 

262 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

boundary line with the republic of Mexico crosses the same ; 
thence' eastwardly with the said boundary line to the Rio 
Grande; thence following the main channel of said river 
to the parallel of the thirty-second degree of north latitude ; 
thence east with said degree to its intersection with the one 
hundred and third degree of longitude west of Greenwich; 
thence north with said degree of longitude to the parallel 
of thirty-eighth degree of north latitude; thence west with 
said parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre; thence 
south with the crest of said mountains to the thirty-seventh 
parallel of north latitude; thence west with said parallel 
to its intersection with the boundary line of the State of 
California ; thence west with said boundary line to the place 
of beginning — be, and the same is hereby, erected into a tem- 
porary government, by the name of the Territory of New 
Mexico: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall 
be construed to inhibit the government of the United States 
from dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, 
in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem 
convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion 
thereof to any other Territory or State: And provided fur- 
ther That, when admitted as a State, the said Territory, 
or any portion of the same shall be received into the Union, 
with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe 
at the time of their admission. . . . 
Approved, September 9, 1850. 

CALIFORNIA ACT 

Whereas the people of California have presented a con- 
stitution and asked admission into the Union, which consti- 
tution was submitted to Congress by the President of the 
United States by message dated February thirteenth, eigh- 
teen hundred and fifty, and which, on due examination, is 
found to be republican in its form of government. 

263 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled. 
That the State of California shall be one, and is hereby 
declared to be one, of the United States of America; and 
admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the orig- 
inal States in all respects whatever. . . . 

Approved, September 9, 1850. 

FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That the persons who have been, or may hereafter be, 
appointed commissioners, in virtue of any act of Congress, 
by the Circuit Courts of the United States, and who, in con- 
sequence of such appointment, are authorized to exercise 
the powers that any justice of the peace, or other magis- 
trate of any of the United States, may exercise in respect 
to offenders for any crime or offense against the United 
States, by arresting, imprisoning, or bailing the same under 
and by virtue of the thirty-third section of the act of the 
twenty-fourth of September seventeen hundred and eighty- 
nine, entitled " An Act to establish the judicial courts of 
the United States " shall be, and are hereby, authorized 
and required to exercise and discharge all the powers and 
duties conferred by this act. 

Sec 2. And be it further enacted, That the Superior 
Court of each organized Territory of the United States 
shall have the same power to appoint commissioners to take 
acknowledgments of bail and affidavits, and to take depo- 
sitions of witnesses in civil causes, which is now possessed 
by the Circuit Court of the United States; and all com- 
missioners who shall hereafter be appointed for such pur- 
poses by the Superior Court of any organized Territory of 

264, 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the United States, shall possess all the powers, and exercise 
all the duties, conferred by law upon the commissioners 
appointed by the Circuit Courts of the United States for 
similar purposes, and shall moreover exercise and discharge 
all the powers and duties conferred by this act. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That the Circuit 
Courts of the United States shall from time to time enlarge 
the number of the commissioners, with a view to afford rea- 
sonable facilities to reclaim fugitives from labor, and to the 
prompt discharge of the duties imposed by this act. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners 
above named shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the 
judges of the Circuit and District Courts of the United 
States, in their respective circuits and districts within the 
several States, and the judges of the Superior Courts of the 
Territories, severally and collectively, in term-time and 
vacation; shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon 
satisfactory proof being made, with authority to take and 
remove such fugitives from service or labor, under the 
restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory from 
which such persons may have escaped or fled. 

Sec 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the 
duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and exe- 
cute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of 
this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal or 
deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant, or other pro- 
cess, when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to 
execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined 
in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of such 
claimant, on the motion of such claimant, by the Circuit 
or District Court for the district of such marshal; 
and after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshal or his 
deputy, or whilst at any time in his custody under the pro- 
visions of this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with 

265 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

or without the assent of such marshal or his deputy, such 
marshal shall be liable, on his official bond, to be prosecuted 
for the benefit of such claimant, for the full value of the 
Service or labor of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or 
District whence he escaped: and the better to enable the 
said commissioners, when thus appointed, to execute their 
duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the 
requirements of the Constitution of the United States and 
of this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, 
within their counties respectively, to appoint, in writing 
under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from 
time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process 
as may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their 
respective duties; with authority to such commissioners, or 
the persons to be appointed by them, to execute process as 
aforesaid, to summon and call to their aid the bystanders, 
or posse comitatus of the proper county, when necessary 
to ensure a faithful observance of the clause of the Consti- 
tution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this 
act; and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and 
assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law, 
whenever their services may be required, as aforesaid, for 
that purpose; and said warrants shall run, and be executed 
by said officers, any where in the State within which they 
are issued. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That when a person 
held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the 
United States, has heretofore or shall hereafter escape 
into another State or Territory of the United States, the 
person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due, 
or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized, by 
power of attorney, in writing, acknowledged and certified 
under the seal of some legal officer or court of the State 
or Territory in which the same may be executed, may pur- 

266 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

sue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring a 
warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commis- 
sioners aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district, or county, 
for the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor, 
or by seizing and arresting such fugitive, where the same 
can be done without process, and by taking, or causing 
such person to be taken, forthwith before such court, judge, 
or commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and 
determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner; 
and upon satisfactory proof being made, by deposition or 
affidavit, in writing, to be taken and certified by such court, 
judge, or commissioner, or by other satisfactory testimony, 
duly taken and certified by some court, magistrate, justice 
of the peace, or other legal officer authorized to administer 
an oath and take depositions under the laws of the State 
or Territory from which such person owing service or labor 
may have escaped, with a certificate of such magistracy or 
other authority, as aforesaid, with the seal of the proper 
court or officer thereto attached, which seal shall be sufficient 
to establish the competency of the proof, and with proof, 
also by affidavit, of the identity of the person whose ser- 
vice or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that the 
person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the 
person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Terri- 
tory from which such fugitive may have escaped as afore- 
said, and that said person escaped, to make out and deliver 
to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, a certificate 
setting forth the substantial facts as to the service or labor 
due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of his or her 
escape from the State or Territory in which he or she was 
arrested, with authority to such claimant, or his or her 
agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and restraint 
as may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case, 
to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State 

267 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as afore- 
said. In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testi- 
mony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and 
the certificates in this and the first [fourth] section men- 
tioned, shall be conclusive of the right of the person or 
persons in whose favor 'granted, to remove such fugitive 
to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall 
prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any 
process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other 
person whomsoever. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That any person who 
shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent 
such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any person or per- 
sons lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting 
such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without 
process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, 
such fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of 
such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or other person 
or persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, 
pursuant to the authority herein given and declared; or 
shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor 
as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from such 
claimant, his agent or attorney, or other person or persons 
legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal 
such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of 
such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that 
such person was a fugitive from service or labor as afore- 
said, shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine 
not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not 
exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before 
the District Court of the United States for the district in 
which such offence may have been committed, or before the 
proper court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within 
any one of the organized Territories of the United States; 

268 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages 
to the party inj ured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one 
thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid, to 
be recovered by action of debt, in any of the District or 
Territorial Courts aforesaid, within whose jurisdiction the 
said offence may have been committed. 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the marshals, 
their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Terri- 
torial Courts, shall be paid, for their services, the like fees 
as may be allowed for similar services in other cases; and 
where such services are rendered exclusively in the arrest, 
custody, and delivery of the fugitive to the claimant, his 
or her agent or attorney, or where such supposed fugitive 
may be discharged out of custody for the want of sufficient 
proof as aforesaid, then such fees are to be paid in whole 
by such claimant, his or her agent or attorney; and in all 
cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, 
he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his 
services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certifi- 
cate to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five 
dollars in cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion 
of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery, 
inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and examin- 
ation, to be paid, in either case, by the claimant, his or her 
agent or attorney. The person or persons authorized to 
execute the process to be issued by such commissioner for 
the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or labor 
as aforesaid, shall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars 
each for each person he or they may arrest and take before 
any commissioner as aforesaid, at the instance and request 
of such claimant, with such other fees as may be deemed 
reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional 
services as may be necessarily performed by him or them; 
such as attending at the examination, keeping the fugitive 

269 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

in custody, and providing him with food and lodging during 
his detention, and until the final determination of such 
commissioners; and, in general, for performing such other 
duties as may be required by such claimant, his or her 
attorney or agent, or commissioner in the premises, such 
fees to be made up in conformity with the fees usually 
charged by the officers of the courts of justice within the 
proper district or county, as near as may be practicable, 
and paid by such claimants, their agents or attorneys, 
whether such supposed fugitives from service or labor be 
ordered to be delivered to such claimant by the final deter- 
mination of such commissioner or not. 

Sec. 9- And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit 
made by the claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney, 
after such certificate has been issued, that he has reason 
to apprehend that such fugitive will be rescued by force 
from his or their possession before he can be taken beyond 
the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be 
the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugi- 
tive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence 
he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant, his agent, 
or attorney. And to this end, the officer aforesaid is hereby 
authorized and required to employ so many persons as he 
may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain 
them in his service so long as circumstances may require. 
The said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to 
receive the same compensation, and to be allowed the same 
expenses, as are now allowed by law for transportation 
of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the district 
within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the treas- 
ury of the United States. 

Sec 10. And be it further enacted, That when any per- 
son held to service or labor in any State or Territory, or in 
the District of Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

to whom such service or labor shall be due, his, her, or their 
agent or attorney, may apply to any court of record 
therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make satisfactory 
proof to such court, or judge in vacation, of the escape 
aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service or 
labor to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a 
record to be made of the matters so proved, and also a 
general description of the person so escaping, with such con- 
venient certainty as may be ; and a transcript of such record, 
authenticated by the attestation of the clerk and of the 
seal of the said court, being produced in any other State, 
Territory, or district in which the person so escaping may 
be found, and being exhibited to any judge, commissioner, 
or other officer authorized by the law of the United States 
to cause persons escaping from service or labor to be deliv- 
ered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive 
evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor 
of the person escaping is due to the party in such record 
mentioned. And upon the production by the said party 
of other and further evidence if necessary, either oral or 
by affidavit, in addition to what is contained in the said rec- 
ord of the identity of the person escaping, he or she shall 
be delivered up to the claimant. And the said court, com- 
missioner, judge, or other person authorized by this act 
to grant certificates to claimants of fugitives, shall, upon the 
production of the record and other evidences aforesaid, 
grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any 
such person identified and proved to be owing service or 
labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such 
claimant to seize or arrest and transport such person to the 
State or Territory from which he escaped: Provided, That 
nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring 
the production of a transcript of such record as evidence as 
aforesaid. But in its absence the claim shall be heard and 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

determined upon other satisfactory proofs, competent in 
law. 

Approved, September 18, 1850. 

ACT TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That from and after the first day of January, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-one, it shall not be lawful to bring into 
the District of Columbia any slave whatever, for the pur- 
pose of being sold, or for the purpose of being placed in 
depot, to be subsequently transferred to any other State 
or place to be sold as merchandize. And if any slave shall 
be brought into the said District by its owner, or by the 
authority or consent of its owner, contrary to the provi- 
sions of this act, such slave shall thereupon become liber- 
ated and free. 

Sec 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may 
be lawful for each of the corporations of the cities of Wash- 
ington and Georgetown, from time to time, and as often as 
may be necessary, to abate, break up, and abolish any depot or 
place of confinement of slaves brought into the said District 
as merchandize, contrary to the provisions of this act, by such 
appropriate means as may appear to either of the said 
corporations expedient and proper. And the same power is 
hereby vested in the Levy Court of Washington county, 
if any attempt shall be made, within its jurisdictional limits, 
to establish a depot or place of confinement for slaves 
brought into the said District as merchandize for sale con- 
trary to this act. 

Approved, September 20, 1850. 



272 



Treaty with Mexico 1853 

Treaty of Limits, Isthmus Transit, &c, between the 
United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, Con- 
cluded at Mexico, December 30, 1853; Ratification Advised 
by Senate, with Amendments, April 25, 1854; Ratified by 
President, June 29, 1854; Ratifications Exchanged at 
Washington, June 30, 1854; Proclaimed June 30, 1854. 

In the name of Almighty God. 

The Republic of Mexico and the United States of 
America, desiring to remove every cause of disagreement 
which might interfere in any manner with the better 
friendship and intercourse between the two countries, and 
especially in respect to the true limits which should be 
established, when, notwithstanding what was covenanted 
in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in the year 1848, op- 
posite interpretations have been urged, which might give 
occasion to questions of serious moment: To avoid these, 
and to strengthen and more firmly maintain the peace which 
happily prevails between the two republics, the President 
of the United States has, for this purpose, appointed James 
Gadsden, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary of the same near the Mexican Government, and the 
President of Mexico has appointed as Plenipotentiary "ad 
hoc" his excellency Don Manuel Diez de Bonilla, cavalier 
grand cross of the national and distinguished order of 
Guadalupe, and Secretary of State and of the office of 
Foreign Relations, and Don Jose Salazar Ylarregui and 
General Mariano Monterde, as scientific commissioners, in- 
vested with full powers for this negotiation; who, having 
communicated their respective full powers, and finding 

273 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

them in due and proper form, have agreed upon the arti- 
cles following: 

ARTICLE I 

The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the follow- 
ing as her true limits with the United States for the future : 
Retaining the same dividing line between the two Cali- 
fornias as already denned and established, according to the 
5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits 
between the two republics shall be as follows: Beginning 
in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite 
the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the fifth arti- 
cle of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ; thence, as denned 
in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point 
where the parallel of 31° 47' north latitude crosses the 
same; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to 
the parallel of 31° 20' north latitude; thence along the 
said parallel of 31° 20 ; to the 111th meridian of longitude 
west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on 
the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junc- 
tion of the Gila and Colorado Rivers ; thence up the middle 
of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present 
line between the United States and Mexico. 

For the performance of this portion of the treaty, each 
of the two Governments shall nominate one commissioner, 
to the end that, by common consent, the two thus nominated, 
having met in the city of Paso del Norte, three months 
after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, may 
proceed to survey and mark out upon the land the dividing 
line stipulated by this article, where it shall not have al- 
ready been surveyed and established by the mixed com- 
mission, according to the treaty of Guadalupe, keeping a 
journal and making proper plans of their operations. For 
this purpose, if they should judge it necessary, the con- 

274 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

tracting parties shall be at liberty each to unite to its 
respective commissioner scientific or other assistants, such 
as astronomers and surveyors, whose concurrence shall not 
be considered necessary for the settlement and ratification 
of a true line of division between the two republics; that 
line shall be alone established upon which the commis- 
sioners may fix, their consent in this particular being con- 
sidered decisive and an integral part of this treaty, without 
necessity of ulterior ratification or approval, and without 
room for interpretation of any kind by either of the parties 
contracting. 

The dividing line thus established shall, in all time, be 
faithfully respected by the two Governments, without any 
variation therein, unless of the express and free consent of 
the two, given in conformity to the principles of the law 
of nations, and in accordance with the constitution of each 
country, respectively. 

In consequence, the stipulation in the 5th article of the 
treaty of Guadalupe upon the boundary line therein 
described is no longer of any force, wherein it may con- 
flict with that here established, the said line being con- 
sidered annulled and abolished wherever it may not coin- 
cide with the present, and in the same manner remaining 
in full force where in accordance with the same. 

ARTICLE II 

The Government of Mexico hereby releases the United 
States from all liability on account of the obligations con- 
tained in the eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo; and the said article and the thirty-third article 
of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between 
the United States of America and the United Mexican 
States, concluded at Mexico on the fifth day of April, 
1831, are hereby abrogated. 

275 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE III 

In consideration of the foregoing stipulations, the Gov- 
ernment of the United States agrees to pay the Govern- 
ment of Mexico, in the city of New York, the sum of ten 
millions of dollars, of which seven millions shall be paid 
immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications of this 
treaty, and the remaining three millions as soon as the 
boundary line shall be surveyed, marked, and established. 

ARTICLE IV 

The provisions of the 6th and 7th articles of the treaty 
of Guadalupe Hidalgo having been rendered nugatory for 
the most part by the cession of territory granted in the 
first article of this treaty, the said articles are hereby ab- 
rogated and annulled, and the provisions as herein ex- 
pressed substituted therefor. The vessels and citizens of 
the United States shall in all time, have free and uninter- 
rupted passage through the Gulf of California, to and from 
their possessions situated north of the boundary line of the 
two countries. It being understood that this passage is to 
be by navigating the Gulf of California and the river Colo- 
rado, and not by land, without the express consent of the 
Mexican Government; and precisely the same provisions, 
stipulations, and restrictions, in all respects, are hereby 
agreed upon and adopted, and shall be scrupulously ob- 
served and enforced, by the two contracting Governments, 
in reference to the Rio Colorado, so far and for such dis- 
tance as the middle of that river is made their common 
boundary line by the first article of this treaty. 

The several provisions, stipulations, and restrictions 
contained in the 7th article of the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo shall remain in force only so far as regards the 

276 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Rio Bravo del Norte, below the initial of the said boundary 
provided in the first article of this treaty; that is to say, 
below the intersection of the 31° 47' 30" parallel of lati- 
tude, with the boundary line established by the late treaty 
dividing said river from its mouth upwards, according to 
the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe. 



article v 

All the provisions of the eighth and ninth, sixteenth and 
seventeenth articles of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
shall apply to the territory ceded by the Mexican Repub- 
lic in the first article of the present treaty, and to all the 
rights of persons and property, both civil and ecclesiasti- 
cal, within the same, as fully and as effectually as if the 
said articles were herein again recited and set forth. 

ARTICLE VI 

No grants of land within the territory ceded by the first 
article of this treaty bearing date subsequent to the day — 
twenty-fifth of September — when the Minister and sub- 
scriber to this treaty on the part of the United States pro- 
posed to the Government of Mexico to terminate the ques- 
tion of boundary, will be considered valid or be recognized 
by the United States, or will any grants made previously 
be respected or be considered as obligatory which have not 
been located and duly recorded in the archives of Mexico. 

ARTICLE VII 

Should there at any future period (which God forbid) 
occur any disagreement between the two nations which 
might lead to a rupture of their relations and reciprocal 

277 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

peace, they bind themselves in like manner to procure by 
every possible method the adjustment of every difference; 
and should they still in this manner not succeed, never will 
they proceed to a declaration of war without having pre- 
viously paid attention to what has been set forth in article 
21 of the treaty of Guadalupe for similar cases; which 
article, as well as the 22d, is here re-affirmed. 

ARTICLE VIII 

The Mexican Government having on the 5th of Febru- 
ary, 1853, authorized the early construction of a plank and 
railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and, to secure 
the stable benefits of said transit way to the persons and 
merchandize of the citizens of Mexico and the United 
States, it is stipulated that neither Government will inter- 
pose any obstacle to the transit of persons and merchan- 
dize of both nations ; and at no time shall higher charges 
be made on the transit of persons and property of citizens 
of the United States than may be made on the persons and 
property of other foreign nations, nor shall any interest in 
said transit way, nor in the proceeds thereof, be transferred 
to any foreign government. 

The United States, by its agents, shall have the right 
to transport across the isthmus, in closed bags, the mails 
of the United States not intended for distribution along the 
line of communication; also the effects of the United 
States Government and its citizens, which may be intended 
for transit, and not for distribution on the isthmus, free 
of custom-house or other charges by the Mexican Govern- 
ment. Neither passports nor letters of security will be re- 
quired of persons crossing the isthmus and not remaining 
in the country. 

When the construction of the railroad shall be completed, 

278 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the Mexican Government agrees to open a port of entry 
in addition to the port of Vera Cruz, at or near the terminus 
of said road on the Gulf of Mexico. 

The two Governments will enter into arrangements for 
the prompt transit of troops and munitions of the United 
States, which that Government may have occasion to send 
from one part of its territory to another, lying on opposite 
sides of the continent. 

The Mexican Government having agreed to protect with 
its whole power the prosecution, preservation, and security 
of the work, the United States may extend its protection 
as it shall judge wise to it when it may feel sanctioned and 
warranted by the public or international law. 

ARTICLE IX 

This treaty shall be ratified, and the respective ratifi- 
cations shall be exchanged at the city of Washington within 
the exact period of six months from the date of its signa- 
ture, or sooner if possible. 

In testimony whereof we, the Plenipotentiaries of the 
contracting parties, have hereunto affixed our hands and 
seals at Mexico, the thirtieth (30th) day of December, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
fifty-three, in the thirty-third year of the Independence of 
the Mexican Republic, and the seventy-eighth of that of 
the United States. 

James Gadsden [l. s.] 

Manuel Diez de Bonilla [l. s.] 
Jose Salazar Ylarregui [l. s.] 
J. Mariano Monterde [l. s.] 



279 






Kansas- Nebraska Act 1854 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress as- 
sembled, That all that part of the territory of the United 
States included within the following limits, except such 
portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted 
from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point 
in the Missouri River where the fortieth parallel of north 
latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to 
the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit 
of the Rocky Mountains; thence on said summit northward 
to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; thence east 
on said parallel to the western boundary of the territory 
of Minnesota; thence southward on said boundary to the 
Missouri River; thence down the main channel of said 
river to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, 
created into a temporary government by the name of the 
Territory of Nebraska; and when admitted as a State or 
States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall 
be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their 
constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission: 
Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be con- 
strued to inhibit the government of the United States from 
dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, in 
such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem 
convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of 
said Territory to any other State or Territory of the 
United States: Provided further, That nothing in this act 
contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person 
or property now pertaining to the Indians in said Terri- 
tory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by 

280 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to 
include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian 
tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be in- 
cluded within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any 
State or Territory; but all such territory shall be excepted 
out of the boundaries and constitute no part of the Terri- 
tory of Nebraska, until said tribe shall signify their assent 
to the President of the United States to be included within 
the said Territory of Nebraska, or to affect the authority 
of the government of the United States to make any regu- 
lations respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or 
other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would 
have been competent to the government to make if this act 
had never passed. 



Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the provisions 
of the act entitled " An act respecting fugitives from 
justice, and persons escaping from the service of their 
masters," approved February twelfth, seventeen hundred 
and ninety-three, and the provisions of the act entitled 
" An act to amend, and supplementary to, the aforesaid 
act," approved September eighteenth, eighteen hundred 
and fifty, be, and the same are hereby, declared to extend 
to and be in full force within the limits of the said Terri- 
tory of Nebraska. 



Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, . . . That the Con- 
stitution, and all laws of the United States which are not 
locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect 
within the said Territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within 
the United States, except the eighth section of the act pre- 
paratory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, ap- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

proved March sixths eighteen hundred and twenty, which, 
being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by- 
Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as 
recognized by the legislation of eighteen hundred and fifty, 
commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby de- 
clared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and 
meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Terri- 
tory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the 
people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the 
Constitution of the United States : Provided, That nothing 
herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force 
any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the 
act of sixth of March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either 
protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery. 
[The provisions relating to Kansas follow and, with the 
exception of the substitution of Kansas for Nebraska, are 
identical with the matter here given.] 



282 



Lincoln's First Inaugural Address 1861 

Fellow-citizens of the United States: In compliance with 
a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before 
you to address you briefly, and to take in your presence the 
oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to 
be taken by the President " before he enters on the execu- 
tion of his office." 

I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss 
those matters of administration about which there is no 
special anxiety or excitement. 

Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the 
Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Ad- 
ministration their property and their peace and personal 
security are to be endangered. There has never been any 
reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most 
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and 
been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the 
published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do 
but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that 
" I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with 
the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I 
believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no 
inclination to do so." Those who nominated and elected me 
did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many 
similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And, 
more than this, they placed in the platform for my accept- 
ance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and 
emphatic resolution which I now read: 

"Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights 
of the States, and especially the right of each State to order 
and control its own domestic institutions according to its 
own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of 

288 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

power on which the perfection and endurance of our polit- 
ical fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion 
by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no 
matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes." 

I now reiterate these sentiments ; and, in doing so, I only 
press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence 
of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, 
and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered 
by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all 
the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and 
the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the 
States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause — as 
cheerfully to one section, as to another. 

There is much controversy about the delivering up of 
fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is 
as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its 
provisions : 

" No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence 
of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such 
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due." 

It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended 
by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call 
fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. 
All Members of Congress swear their support to the whole 
Constitution — to this provision as much as to any other. 
To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within 
the terms of this clause, " shall be delivered up," their oaths 
are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good 
temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame 
and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unan- 
imous oath? 

There is some difference of opinion whether this clause 

284 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

should be enforced by national or by State authority; but 
surely that difference is not a very material one. If the 
slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence 
to him, or to others, by which authority it is done. And 
should any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall 
go unkept, on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how 
it shall be kept ? 

Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the 
safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane juris- 
prudence to be introduced so that a free man be not, in 
any case, surrendered as a slave ? And might it not be well 
at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of 
that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that " the 
citizen of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and 
immunities of citizens in the several States " ? 

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations 
and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by 
any hypercritical rules. And while I do not choose now 
to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be 
enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, 
both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide 
by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any 
of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be 
unconstitutional. 

It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a 
President under our National Constitution. During that 
period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens 
have, in succession, administered the Executive branch of 
the Government. They have conducted it through many 
perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this 
scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for 
the brief constitutional term of four years under great and 
peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, here- 
tofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. 

285 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the 
Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Per- 
petuity is implied^ if not expressed, in the fundamental law 
of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no 
government proper ever had a provision in its organic law 
for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express 
provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will 
endure forever — it being impossible to destroy it except by 
some action not provided for in the instrument itself. 

Again, if the United States be not a Government proper, 
but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, 
can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all 
the parties who made it ? One party to a contract may 
violate it — break it, so to speak, but does it not require all 
to lawfully rescind it? 

Descending from these general principles, we find the 
proposition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is per- 
petual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The 
Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, 
in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was 
matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence 
in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the 
then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that 
it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 
1778. And, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for 
ordaining and establishing the Constitution was, "to form 
a more perfect Union." 

But if the destruction of the Union by one, or by a part 
only, of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less 
perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital 
element of perpetuity. 

It follows from these views that no State, upon its own 
mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that 
resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and 

286 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the 
authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revo- 
lutionary, according to circumstances. 

I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and 
the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my 
ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly 
enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully 
executed in all of the States. Doing this I deem to be only 
a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it, so far 
as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American 
people, shall withhold the requisite means, or in some 
authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will 
not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared pur- 
pose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and 
maintain itself. 

In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence ; 
and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national 
authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, 
occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to 
the Government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but 
beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will 
be no invasion, no using of force against or among the 
people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States, in 
any interior locality, shall be so great and universal as to 
prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Fed- 
eral offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious 
strangers among the people for that object. While the 
strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the 
exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irri- 
tating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it 
better to forego for the time the uses of such offices. 

The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished 
in all parts of the Union. So far as possible, the people 
everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The 
course here indicated will be followed unless current events 
and experience shall show a modification or change to be 
proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion 
will be exercised according to circumstances actually exist- 
ing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of 
the national troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sym- 
pathies and affections. 

That there are persons in one section or another who seek 
to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any 
pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny ; but if there 
be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, 
who really love the Union may I not speak? 

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruc- 
tion of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, 
and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely 
why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while 
there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly 
from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain 
ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly 
from — will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake ? 

All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitu- 
tional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any 
right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied? 
I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted, that 
no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, 
if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written 
provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If by 
the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a 
minority in any clearly written constitutional right, it might, 
in a moral point of view, justify revolution — certainly would 
if such a right were a vital one. But such is not our case. 
All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so 
plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guar- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

anties and prohibitions, in the Constitution, that controver- 
sies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can 
ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to 
every question which may occur in practical administration. 
No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable 
length contain, express provisions for all possible questions. 
Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or 
by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly 
say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? 
The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress 
protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does 
not expressly say. 

From questions of this class spring all our constitutional 
controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and 
minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority 
must, or the Government must cease. There is no other 
alternative; for continuing the Government is acquiescence 
on one side or the other. 

If a minority in such case will secede rather than 
acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide 
and ruin them ; for a minority of their own will secede from 
them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such 
minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new 
confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, 
precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to 
secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are 
now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. 

Is there such perfect identity of interests among the 
States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only, 
and prevent renewed secession? 

Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of 
anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional 
checks and limitations, and always changing easily with 
deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it 
does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Una- 
nimity is impossible ; the rule of a minority, as a permanent 
arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the 
majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is 
all that is left. 

I do not forget the position, assumed by some, that con- 
stitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court; 
nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding, in any 
case, upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that 
suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and 
consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments 
of the Government. And while it is obviously possible that 
such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the 
evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, 
with the chance that it may be overruled and never become 
a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could 
the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the can- 
did citizen must confess that if the policy of the Govern- 
ment, upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to 
be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the 
instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties 
in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their 
own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their 
government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor 
is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. 
It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases 
properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs 
if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. 

One section of our country believes slavery is right, and 
ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, 
and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial 
dispute. The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution, and 
the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in 
a community where the moral sense of the people imper- 
fectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people 
abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few 
break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured ; 
and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of 
the sections, than before. The foreign slave trade, now 
imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without 
restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only 
partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by 
the other. 

Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot 
remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an 
impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may 
be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the 
reach of each other; but the different parts of our country 
cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face, and 
intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between 
them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more 
advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than 
before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can 
make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced 
between aliens than laws can among friends ? Suppose you 
go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much 
loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fight- 
ing, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse 
are again upon you. 

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people 
who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the 
existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional 
right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dis- 
member or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact 
that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of 
having the National Constitution amended. While I make 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the 
rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to 
be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instru- 
ment itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, 
favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being aiforded 
the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to 
me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows 
amendments to originate with the people themselves, 
instead of only permitting them to take or reject proposi- 
tions originated by others, not especially chosen for the pur- 
pose, and which might not be precisely such as they would 
wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed 
amendment to the Constitution — which amendment, however, 
I have not seen — has passed Congress, to the eifect that the 
Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic 
institutions of the States, including that of persons held 
to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, 
I depart from my purpose, not to speak of particular amend- 
ments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision to 
now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to 
its being made express and irrevocable. 

The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the 
people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms 
for the separation of the States. The people themselves 
can do this also if they choose; but the Executive, as such, 
has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the 
present Government, as it came to his hands, and to transmit 
it, unimpaired by him, to his successor. 

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ulti- 
mate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal 
hope in the world? In our present differences is either 
party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty 
Ruler of Nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be on 
your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth 

2Q2 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this 
great tribunal of the American people. 

By the frame of the Government under which we live, 
this same people have wisely given their public servants but 
little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, 
provided for the return of that little to their own hands 
at very short intervals. While the people retain their 
virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of 
wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the govern- 
ment in the short space of four years. 

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon 
this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking 
time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot 
haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that 
obj ect will be frustrated by taking time ; but no good obj ect 
can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatis- 
fied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the 
sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; 
while the new Administration will have no immediate power, 
if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you 
who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there 
still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelli- 
gence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him 
who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still com- 
petent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty. 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not 
in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Govern- 
ment will not assail you. You can have no conflict without 
being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath regis- 
tered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall 
have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, and 
defend it." 

I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. 
We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords 
of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot 
grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when 
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels 
of our nature. 



294 



Constitution of the Confederate States of 

America 1861 

We, the people of the Confederate States, each State 
acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order 
to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, 
insure domestic tranquility, and secure the blessings of 
liberty to ourselves and our posterity — invoking the favor 
and guidance of Almighty God — do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the Confederate States of America. 



ARTICLE I 

Section 1 All legislative powers herein delegated shall 
be vested in a Congress of the Confederate States, which 
shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. 

Section 2 (1) The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of members chosen every second year by the peo- 
ple of the several States ; and the electors in each State shall 
be citizens of the Confederate States, and have the qualifica- 
tions requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of 
the State Legislature ; but no person of foreign birth, not a 
citizen of the Confederate States, shall be allowed to vote 
for any officer, civil or political, State or Federal. 

(2) No person shall be a Representative who shall not 
have attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a citizen 
of the Confederate States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

(3) Representatives and direct taxes shall be appor- 
tioned among the several States, which may be included 
within this Confederacy, according to their respective num- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

bers, which shall be determined, by adding to the whole 
number of free persons, including those bound to service 
for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all slaves. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress 
of the Confederate States, and within every subsequent 
term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law di- 
rect. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one 
for every fifty thousand, but each State shall have at least 
one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of South' Carolina shall be entitled to 
choose six; the State of Georgia ten; the State of Alabama 
nine; the State of Florida two; the State of Mississippi 
seven; the State of Louisiana six; and the State of Texas 
six. 

(4) When vacancies happen in the representation from 
any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs 
of election to fill such vacancies. 

(5) The House of Representatives shall choose their 
Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power 
of impeachment; except that any judicial or other Federal 
officer, resident and acting solely within the limits of any 
State, may be impeached by a vote of two-thirds of both 
branches of the Legislature thereof. 

Section 3 (1) The Senate of the Confederate States 
shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen 
for six years by the Legislature thereof, at the regular ses- 
sion next immediately preceding the commencement of the 
term of service; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled, in con- 
sequence of the first election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the 
Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration 
of the second year; of the second class at the expiration 

296 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

of the fourth year; and of the third class at the expira- 
tion of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen 
every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, 
or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any 
State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
ments until the next meeting of the Legislature which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

(3) No person shall be a Senator who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty years, and be a citizen of the 
Confederate States; and who shall not, when elected, be 
an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen. 

(4) The Vice President of the Confederate States shall 
be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless 
they be equally divided. 

(5) The Senate shall choose their other officers; and 
also a President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice 
President, or when he shall exercise the office of President 
of the Confederate States. 

(6) The Senate shall have power to try all impeach- 
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on 
oath or affirmation. When the President of the Confeder- 
ate States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no 
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the members present. 

(7) Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit, under 
the Confederate States; but the party convicted shall, 
nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
judgment and punishment according to law. 

Section 4 (1) The times, places and manner of holding 
elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be pre- 
scribed in each State by the Legislature thereof, subject to 
the provisions of this Constitution; but the Congress may, 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except 
as to the times and places of choosing Senators. 

(2) The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year; and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December, unless they shall, by law, appoint a different 
day. 

Section 5 (1) Each House shall be the judge of the 
elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, 
and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do busi- 
ness; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent 
members, in such manner and under such penalties as each 
House may provide. 

(2) Each House may determine the rules of its proceed- 
ings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with 
the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number, expel 
a member. 

(3) Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the 
yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any 
question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, 
be entered on the journal. 

(4) Neither House, during the session of Congress, 
shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place than that in which 
the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6 (1) The Senators and Representatives shall 
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained 
by law, and paid out of the treasury of the Confederate 
States. They shall, in all eases, except treason, felony, 
and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, 
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

speech or debate in either House, they shall not be ques- 
tioned in any other place. 

(2) No Senator or Representative shall, during the time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under the authority of the Confederate States, which shall 
have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have 
been increased during such time; and no person holding 
any office under the Confederate States shall be a member 
of either House during his continuance in office. But Con- 
gress may, by law, grant to the principal officer in each of 
the Executive Departments a seat upon the floor of either 
House, with the privilege of discussing any measure ap- 
pertaining to his department. 

Section 7(1) All bills for raising revenue shall origin- 
ate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may 
propose or concur with the amendments, as on other bills. 

(2) Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, 
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Presi- 
dent of the Confederate States; if he approve, he shall 
sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, 
to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall 
enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed 
to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds 
of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, 
together with the objections, to the other House, by which 
it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- 
thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for 
and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each 
House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by 
the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Con- 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

gress by their adjournment prevent its return; in which 
case it shall not be a law. The President may approve 
any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation 
in the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing the bill, 
designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall return 
a copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the 
House in which the bill shall have originated; and the 
same proceedings shall then be had as in case of other bills 
disapproved by the President. 

(3) Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the con- 
currence of both Houses may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the Presi- 
dent of the Confederate States; and before the same shall 
take effect, shall be approved by him ; or being disapproved 
by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of both Houses, 
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of 
a bill. 

Section 8. The Congress shall have power — 

( 1 ) To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, 
for revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide for the 
common defence, and carry on the government of the Con- 
federate States; but no bounties shall be granted from the 
treasury ; nor shall any duties or taxes on importations from 
foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of 
industry; and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uni- 
form throughout the Confederate States: 

(2) To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate 
States : 

(3) To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; but 
neither this, nor any other clause contained in the consti- 
tution, shall ever be construed to delegate the power to 
Congress to appropriate money for any internal improve- 
ment intended to facilitate commerce, except for the pui 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

pose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, and other 
aids to navigation upon the coasts, and the improvement 
of harbors and the removing of obstructions in river navi- 
gation, in all which cases, such duties shall be laid on the 
navigation facilitated thereby, as may be necessary to pay 
the costs and expenses thereof: 

(4) To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout 
the Confederate States; but no law of Congress shall dis- 
charge any debt contracted before the passage of the same: 

(5) To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and meas- 
ures: 

(6) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting 
the securities and current coin of the Confederate States: 

(7) To establish post-offices and post-routes; but the 
expenses of the Post-Office Department, after the first day 
of March in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and 
sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenue: 

(8) To promote the progress of science and useful 
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors 
the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
coveries : 

(9) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court : 

(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of 
nations : 

(11) To declare war, grant letters of marque and re- 
prisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water : 

(12) To raise and support armies; but no appropria- 
tion of money to that use shall be for a longer term than 
two years: 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

(13) To provide and maintain a navy: 

(14) To make rules for the government and regulation 
of the land and naval forces: 

(15) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, 
and repel invasions: 

(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as may 
be employed in the service of the Confederate States, re- 
serving to the States, respectively, the appointment of the 
officers, and the authority of training the militia according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress: 

(17) To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases what- 
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) 
as may, by cession of one or more States and the accept- 
ance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of 
the Confederate States: and to exercise like authority over 
all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful build- 
ings: and 

(18) To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, 
and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Gov- 
ernment of the Confederate States, or in any department 
or officer thereof. 

Section 9 (1) The importation of negroes of the Afri- 
can race, from any foreign country other than the slave- 
holding States or Territories of the United States of Amer- 
ica, is hereby forbidden; and Congress is required to pass 
such laws as shall effectually prevent the same. 

(2) Congress shall also have power to prohibit the in- 
troduction of slaves from any State not a member of, or 
Territory not belonging to, this Confederacy. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

(3) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion 
the public safety may require it. 

(4) No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, or law 
denying or impa[i]ring the right of property in negro 
slaves shall be passed. 

(5) No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, un- 
less in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore 
directed to be taken. 

(6) No tax or duty shall be laid upon articles exported 
from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both 
Houses. 

(7) No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of 
another. 

(8) No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but 
in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regu- 
lar statement and account of the receipts and expenditures 
of all public money shall be published from time to 
time. 

(9) Congress shall appropriate no money from the 
treasury except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, 
taken by yeas and nays, unless it be asked and estimated 
for by some one of the heads of departments, and sub- 
mitted to Congress by the President; or for the purpose 
of paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for the 
payment of claims against the Confederate States, the 
justice of which shall have been judicially declared by a 
tribunal for the investigation of claims against the govern- 
ment, which it is hereby made the duty of Congress to 
establish. 

(10) All bills appropriating money shall specify in 
federal currency the exact amount of each appropriation 
and the purposes for which it is made; and Congress shall 

303 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

grant no extra compensation to any public contractor, 
officer, agent or servant, after such contract shall have been 
made or such service rendered. 

(11) No title of nobility shall be granted by the Con- 
federate States; and no person holding any office of profit 
or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress, 
accept of any present, emolument, office or title of any kind 
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

(12) Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and 
petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

(13) A well regulated militia being necessary to the 
security of a free state, the right of the people to keep 
and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

(14) No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time 
of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

(15) The right of the people to be secure in their per- 
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable 
searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no war- 
rants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place 
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

(16) No person shall be held to answer for a capital or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or in- 
dictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the 
land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service 
in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be 
subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy 
of life or limb; nor be compelled, in any criminal case, to 
be a witness against himself; nor to be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall 

304 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

private property be taken for public use, without just com- 
pensation. 

(17) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall en- 
joy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial 
jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have 
been committed, which district shall have been previously 
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and 
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining wit- 
nesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel 
for his defence. 

(18) In suits at common law, where the value in con- 
troversy shall not exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial 
by jury shall be preserved; and no fact so tried by a jury 
shall be otherwise re-examine^ in any court of the Con- 
federacy, than according to the rules of common law. 

(19) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces- 
sive fines imposed, nor cruel and inhuman punishment in- 
flicted. 

(20) Every law, or resolution having the force of law, 
shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed 
in the title. 

Section 10(1) No State shall enter into any treaty, alli- 
ance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; 
coin money ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender 
in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant 
any title of nobility. 

(2) No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in- 
spection laws; and the nett produce of all duties and im- 
posts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for 
the use of the Treasury of the Confederate States; and 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control 
of Congress. 

(3) No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any duty on tonnage, except on sea-going vessels, for 
the improvement of its rivers and harbors navigated by the 
said vessels; but such duties shall not conflict with any 
treaties of the Confederate States with foreign nations; 
and any surplus revenue, thus derived, shall, after making 
such improvement, be paid into the common treasury. Nor 
shall any State keep troops or ships-of-war in time of 
peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another 
State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. But when any river divides or flows 
through two or more States, they may enter into compacts 
with each other to improve the navigation thereof. 

ARTICLE II 

Section 1 (1) The executive power shall be vested in a 
President of the Confederate States of America. He and 
the Vice President shall hold their offices for the term of six 
years ; but the President shall not be re-eligible. The Presi- 
dent and the Vice President shall be elected as follows : 

(2) Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the 
legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal 
to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to 
which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no 
Senator or Representative or person holding an office of 
trust or profit under the Confederate States, shall be ap- 
pointed an elector. 

(3) The electors shall meet in their respective States 
and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one 
of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the 
person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the 
person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make 
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all 
persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number 
of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of the 
Confederate States, directed to the President of the Senate ; 
the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certifi- 
cates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person hav- 
ing the greatest number of votes for President shall be the 
President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed; and if no person have such 
a majority, then, from the persons having the highest num- 
bers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as 
President, the House of Representatives shall choose im- 
mediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by States — the repre- 
sentation from each State having one vote; a quorum for 
this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to the choice. And if the House of 
Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the 
right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth 
day of March next following, then the Vice President shall 
act as President, as in the case of the death, or other con- 
stitutional disability of the President. 

(4) The person having the greatest number of votes 
as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such num- 
ber be a majority of the whole number of electors ap- 
pointed, and if no person have a majority, then, from the 
two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose 
the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall con- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

sist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
choice. 

(5) But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President 
of the Confederate States. 

(6) The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
the electors, and the day on which they shall give their 
votes; which day shall be the same throughout the Con- 
federate States. 

(7) No person except a natural born citizen of the Con- 
federate States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the 
adoption of this Constitution, or a citizen thereof born in 
the United States prior to the 20th of December, I860, 
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any 
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained 
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resi- 
dent within the limits of the Confederate States, as they may 
exist at the time of his election. 

(8) In case of the removal of the President from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the 
powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve 
on the Vice President; and Congress may, by law, provide 
for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, 
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what 
officer shall then act as President; and such officer shall 
act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a Presi- 
dent shall be elected. 

(9) The President shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services a compensation, which shall neither be increased 
nor diminished during the period for which he shall have 
been elected; and he shall not receive within that period 
any other emolument from the Confederate States, or any 
of them. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

(10) Before he enters on the execution of his office, he 
shall take the following oath or affirmation: 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the Confederate States, 
and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and 
defend the Constitution thereof." 

Section 2 (1) The President shall be Commander-in- 
chief of the army and navy of the Confederate States, and 
of the militia of the several States, when called into the 
actual service of the Confederate States ; he may require the 
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the 
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to 
grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the Con- 
federate States, except in cases of impeachment. 

(2) He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to make treaties; provided two- 
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nomi- 
nate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
suls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers 
of the Confederate States whose appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be estab- 
lished by law; but the Congress may, by law, vest the ap- 
pointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, 
in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads 
of departments. 

(3) The principal officer in each of the executive de- 
partments, and all persons connected with the diplomatic 
service, may be removed from office at the pleasure of the 
President. All other civil officers of the executive depart- 
ment may be removed at any time by the President, or 
other appointing power, when their services are unneces- 
sary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct, 

309 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 






or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal 
shall be reported to the Senate, together with the reasons 
therefor. 

(4) The President shall have power to fill all vacancies 
that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by grant- 
ing commissions which shall expire at the end of their 
next session; but no person rejected by the Senate shall 
be re-appointed to the same office during their ensuing 
recess. 

Section 3 (1) The President shall, from time to time, 
give to the Congress information of the state of the Confed- 
eracy, and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extra- 
ordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, 
and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to 
the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time 
as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and 
other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers 
of the Confederate States. 

Section 4 (1) The President, Vice President, and all 
civil officers of the Confederate States, shall be removed 
from office on impeachment, for and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 

Section 1 (1) The judicial power of the Confederate 
States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such in- 
ferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain 
and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior 
courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and 
shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compen- 
sation which shall not be diminished during their continu- 
ance in office. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Section 2 (1) The judicial power shall extend to all 
cases arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Con- 
federate States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the Con- 
federate States shall be a party; to controversies between 
two or more States ; between a State and citizens of another 
State, where the State is plaintiff; between citizens claim- 
ing lands under grants of different States; and between 
a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens 
or subjects; but no State shall be sued by a citizen or 
subject of any foreign state. 

(2) In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall 
be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- 
diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Su- 
preme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to 
law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regu- 
lations as the Congress shall make. 

(3) The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
ment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the 
State where the said crimes shall have been committed; 
but when not committed within any State, the trial shall 
be at such place or places as the Congress may by law 
have directed. 

Section 3 (1) Treason against the Confederate States 
shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adher- 
ing to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per- 
son shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of 
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

(2) The Congress shall have power to declare the pun- 
ishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work 

311 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



life 



corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life 
of the person attainted. 



ARTICLE IV 

Section 1 (1) Full faith and credit shall be given in 
each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceed- 
ings of every other State. And the Congress may, by gen- 
eral laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, 
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2 (1) The citizens of each State shall be en- 
titled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the 
several States; and shall have the right of transit and so- 
journ in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and 
other property ; and the right of property in said slaves shall 
not be thereby impaired. 

(2) A person charged in any State with treason, felony, 
or other crime against the laws of such State, who shall 
flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, 
on demand of the Executive authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having jurisdiction of the crime. 

(3) No slave or other person held to service or labor in 
any State or Territory of the Confederate States, under the 
laws thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, 
shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be 
discharged from such service or labor ; but shall be delivered 
up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs, or to 
whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section 3 (1) Other States may be admitted into this 
Confederacy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole House of 
Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate 
voting by States ; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of 
States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States 
concerned, as well as of the Congress. 

(2) The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations concerning the prop- 
erty of the Confederate States, including the lands thereof. 

(3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory; 
and Congress shall have power to legislate and provide 
governments for the inhabitants of all territory belonging 
to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the 
several States ; and may permit them, at such times, and in 
such manner as it may by law provide, to form States to 
be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory, the 
institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Con- 
federate States, shall be recognized and protected by Con- 
gress and by the territorial government : and the inhabitants 
of the several Confederate States and Territories shall have 
the right to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held 
by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confeder- 
ate States. 

(4) The Confederate States shall guarantee to every 
State that now is, or hereafter may become, a member of 
this Confederacy, a republican form of government; and 
shall protect each of them against invasion; and on appli- 
cation of the legislature (or of the executive, when the 
legislature is not in session), against domestic violence. 



ARTICLE V 

Section 1 (1) Upon the demand of any three States, 
legally assembled in their several conventions, the Congress 
shall summon a convention of all the States, to take into 
consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the 
said States shall concur in suggesting at the time when the 

313 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

said demand is made ; and should any of the proposed amend- 
ments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said conven- 
tion — voting by States — and the same be ratified by the 
legislature of two-thirds of the several States, or by con- 
ventions in two-thirds thereof — as the one or the other 
mode of ratification may be proposed by the general conven- 
tion — they shall henceforward form a part of the Constitu- 
tion. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of 
its equal representation in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

(1) The Government established by this Constitution 
is the successor of the Provisional Government of the Con- 
federate States of America, and all the laws passed by the 
latter shall continue in force until the same shall be repealed 
or modified r and all the officers appointed by the same shall 
remain in office until their successors are appointed and 
qualified, or the offices abolished. 

(2) All debts contracted and engagements entered into 
before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid 
against the Confederate States under this Constitution, as 
under the Provisional Government. 

(3) This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate 
States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under the authority of the Con- 
federate States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and 
the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

(4) The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several State legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial officers, both of the Confederate 
States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or 
affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious 

314 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or 
public trust under the Confederate States. 

(5) The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain 
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others 
retained by the people of the several States. 

(6) The powers not delegated to the Confederate States 
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people thereof. 

ARTICLE VII 

(1) The ratification of the conventions of five States 
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution 
between the States so ratifying the same. 

(2) When five States shall have ratified this Constitu- 
tion, in the manner before specified, the Congress under the 
Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the time for hold- 
ing the election of President and Vice President, and for 
the meeting of the Electoral College, and for counting the 
votes, and inaugurating the President. They shall, also, 
prescribe the time for holding the first election of members 
of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for assem- 
bling the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the 
Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall continue 
to exercise the legislative powers granted them ; not extend- 
ing beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Pro- 
visional Government. 

Adopted unanimously by the Congress of the Confederate 
States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis- 
sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas, sitting in convention at the 
capitol, in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, on the 
Eleventh day of March, in the year Eighteen Hundred and 
Sixty-one. 

Howell Cobb 
President of the Congress. 
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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

South Carolina. — R. Barnwell Rhett, C. G. Memminger, 
Wm. Porcher Miles, James Chesnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, 
William W. Boyce, Lawrence M. Keitt, T. J. Withers. 

Georgia. — Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Ben- 
jamin H. Hill, Thos. R. R. Cobb. 

Florida. — Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, Jas. 
B. Owens. 

Alabama. — Richard W. Walker, Robt. H. Smith, Colin J. 
McRae, William P. Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P. 
Lewis, Tho. Fearn, Jno. Gill Shorter, J. L. M. Curry. 

Mississippi. — Alex. M. Clayton, James T. Harrison, Will- 
iam S. Barry, W. S. Wilson, Walker Brooke, W. P. Harris, 
J. A. P. Campbell. 

Louisiana. — Alex, de Clouet, C. M. Conrad, Duncan F. 
Kenner, Henry Marshall. 

Texas. — John Hemphill, Thomas N. Waul, John H. 
Reagan, Williamson S. Oldham, Louis T. Wigfall, John 
Gregg, William Beck Ochiltree. 



316 



Emancipation Proclamation 1863 

Whereas,, on the twenty-second day of September, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the 
United States, containing, among other things, the follow- 
ing, to wit: 

" That on the first day of January, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all per- 
sons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of 
a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and 
forever free; and the Executive Government of the United 
States, including the military and naval authority thereof, 
will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, 
and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of 
them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 

" That the Executive will, on the first day of January 
aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts 
of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively, 
shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and 
the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that 
day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the 
United States by members chosen thereto at elections 
wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State 
shall have participated, shall in the absence of strong coun- 
tervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that 
such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion 
against the United States." 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as com- 
mander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United 

317 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

States, in time of actual armed rebellion against authority 
and government of the United States, and as a fit and nec- 
essary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on 
this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with 
my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period 
of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, 
order and designate as the States and parts of States 
wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in 
rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. 
Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. 
James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. 
Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New 
Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South 
Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty- 
eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the 
counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth 
City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities 
of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts 
are, for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation 
were not issued. 

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose afore- 
said, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves 
within said designated States and parts of States are, and 
henceforward shall be, free ; and that the Executive govern- 
ment of the United States, including the military and naval 
authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom 
of said persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be 
free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self- 
defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when 
allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 

And I further declare and make known, that such per- 

318 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

sons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed 
service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, 
stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts 
in said service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of jus- 
tice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, 
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gra- 
cious favor of Almighty God. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the 
United States of America the eighty-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln 

L. S. 

By the President: 

William H. Seward, 

Secretary of State. 



319 



Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 1863 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, 
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that 
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as 
a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives 
that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting and 
proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we 
cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow 
— this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strug- 
gled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to 
add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remem- 
ber what we say here, but it can never forget what they did 
here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here 
to the unfinished work which they who fought here have 
thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here 
dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from 
these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause 
for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — 
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have 
died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new 
birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the 
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 



320 









Proclamation of Amnesty 1863 

Whereas in and by the Constitution of the United States 
it is provided that the President " shall have power to grant 
reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, 
except in cases of impeachment; " and 

Whereas a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State 
governments of several States have for a long time been 
subverted, and many persons have committed and are now 
guilty of treason against the United States ; and 

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, 
laws have been enacted by Congress declaring forfeitures 
and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all 
upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring 
that the President was thereby authorized at any time there- 
after, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have 
participated in the existing rebellion of any State or part 
thereof pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at 
such times and on such conditions as he may deem expedient 
for the public welfare; and 

Whereas the congressional declaration for limited and 
conditional pardon accords with well-established judicial 
exposition of the pardoning power; and 

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion, the President 
of the United States has issued several proclamations with 
provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves; and 

Whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore 
engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the 
United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State governments 
within and for their respective states: Therefore — 

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do 
proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, 

321 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

directly or by implication, participated in the existing 
rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon 
is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restora- 
tion of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in 
property cases where rights of third parties shall have 
intervened, and upon the condition that every such person 
shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep 
and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be 
registered for permanent preservation, and. shall be of the 
tenor and effect following, to wit: 

" I, , do solemnly swear, in presence of 

Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States 
and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will, 
in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts 
of congress passed during the existing rebellion with refer- 
ence to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, 
or held void by congress, or by decision of the supreme court ; 
and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully sup- 
port all proclamations of the President made during the 
existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and 
so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the 
supreme court. So help me God." 

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing 
provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplo- 
matic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate govern- 
ment; all who have left judicial stations under the United 
States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been, 
military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate 
government above the rank of colonel in the army or of 
lieutenant in the navy; all who left seats in the United 
States congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned com- 
missions in the army or navy' of the United States and after- 
wards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in 
charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, 
and which persons may have been found in the United 
States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity. 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that 
whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisi- 
ana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, 
South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, 
not less than one tenth in number of the votes cast in such 
state at the presidential election of the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken 
the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and 
being a qualified voter by the election laws of the state 
existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, 
and excluding all others, shall reestablish a State government 
which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening 
said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government 
of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the bene- 
fits of the constitutional provision which declares that " the 
United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
republican form of government, and shall protect each of 
them against invasion ; and on application of the legislature, 
or the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), 
against domestic violence." 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that 
any provision which may be adopted by such State govern- 
ment in relation to the freed people of such State, which 
shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, pro- 
vide for their education, and which may yet be consistent 
as a temporary arrangement with their present condition 
as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be 
objected to by the National Executive. 

And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing 
a loyal State government in any State, the name of the State, 

323 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the 
general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, 
subject only to the modifications made necessary by the 
conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not 
contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed 
expedient by those framing the new State government. 

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that 
this proclamation, so far as it relates to state governments, 
has no reference, to states wherein loyal state governments 
have all the while been maintained. And, for the same 
reason, it may be proper to further say, that whether mem- 
bers sent to congress from any state shall be admitted to 
seats constitutionally rests exclusively with the respective 
houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And 
still further, that this proclamation is intended to present 
the people of the states wherein the national authority has 
been suspended, and loyal state governments have been sub- 
verted, a mode in and by which the national authority and 
loyal state governments may be reestablished within said 
states, or in any of them; and, while the mode presented is 
the best the Executive can suggest, with his present impres- 
sions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode 
would be acceptable. 

Given under my hand at the city of Washington, on the 
8th day of December, A. D. 1863, and of the Inde- 
pendence of the United States of America the eighty- 
eighth. 

Abraham Lincoln 
seal 



324 



Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 1865 

Fellow-countrymen : At this second appearing to take the 
oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an 
extended address than there was at the first. Then, a state- 
ment, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed 
fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, 
during which public declarations have been constantly called 
forth on every point and phase of the great contest which 
still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the 
nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress 
of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well 
known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reason- 
ably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope 
for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all 
thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. 
All dreaded it — all sought to avert it. While the inaugural 
address was being delivered from this place, devoted alto- 
gether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents 
were in the city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking 
to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. 
Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make 
war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would 
accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. 

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, 
not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in 
the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar 
and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, 
somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, 
and extend this interest was the object for which the insur- 
gents would rend the Union, even by war ; while the Govern- 

325 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ment claimed no right to do more than to restrict the terri- 
torial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war 
the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. 
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease 
with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each 
looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental 
and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to 
the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. 
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just 
God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of 
other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not 
judged. The prayers of both could not be answered — that 
of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his 
own purposes. " Woe unto the world because of offenses ! 
for it must needs be that offenses come ; but woe to that man 
by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that 
American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the 
providence of God, must needs come, but which, having con- 
tinued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, 
and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, 
as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shajl. 
we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes 
which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? 
Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this 
mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if 
God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the 
bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited 
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with 
the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as - 
was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said: 
" The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous alto- 
gether." 

With malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firm- 
ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us 

326 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the nation's 
wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, 
and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may 
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our- 
selves, and with all nations. 



327 



Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an 
End 1866 

Whereas by proclamations of the 15th and 19th of April, 

1861, the President of the United States in virtue of the 
power vested in him by the Constitution and the laws, 
declared that the laws of the United States were opposed 
and the execution thereof obstructed in the States of South 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisi- 
ana, and Texas by combinations too powerful to be sup- 
pressed by the ordinary course of j udicial proceedings or by 
the powers vested in the marshals of the law ; and 

Whereas by another proclamation made on the 16th day 
of August, in the same year, in pursuance of an act of Con- 
gress approved July 13, 1861, the inhabitants of the States 
of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missis- 
sippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of the State of 
Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and except 
also the inhabitants of such other parts of that State and the 
other States before named as might maintain a loyal adhesion 
to the Union and Constitution or might be from time to 
time occupied and controlled by forces of the United States 
engaged in the dispersion of the insurgents) were declared 
to be in a state of insurrection against the United States; 
and 

Whereas by another proclamation of the 1st of July, 

1862, issued in pursuance of an act of Congress approved 
June 7, in the same year, the insurrection was declared 
to be still existing in the States aforesaid, with the excep- 
tion of certain specified counties in the State of Virginia; 
and 

328 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Whereas by another proclamation made on the 2d day 
of April, 1863, in pursuance of an act of Congress of July 
13, 1861, the exceptions named in the proclamation of 
August 16, 1861, were revoked and the inhabitants of the 
States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennes- 
see, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, 
Florida, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties of 
Virginia designated as West Virginia and the ports of New 
Orleans, Key West, Port Royal, and Beaufort, in North 
Carolina) were declared to be still in a state of insurrection 
against the United States; and 

Whereas by another proclamation, of the 15th day of 
September, 1863, made in pursuance of the act of Congress 
approved March 3, 1863, the rebellion was declared to be 
still existing and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
was in certain specified cases suspended throughout the 
United States, said suspension to continue throughout the 
duration of the rebellion or until said proclamation should, 
by a subsequent one to be issued by the President of the 
United States, be modified or evoked; and 

Whereas the House of Representatives on the 22d day of 
July, 1861, adopted a resolution in the following words, 
namely : 

Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Con- 
gress of the United States, That the present deplorable 
civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunion- 
ists of the Southern States now in revolt against the consti- 
tutional Government and in arms around the capitol; that 
in this national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings 
of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty 
to the whole country; that this war is not waged upon our 
part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of 
conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or 
interfering with the rights or established institutions of 

329 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

those States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of 
the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with all the 
dignity, equality, and rights of the several States, unim- 
paired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished 
the war ought to cease. 

And whereas the Senate of the United States on the 25th 
day of July, 1861, adopted a resolution in the words follow- 
ing, to wit: 

Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has 
been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the 
Southern States now in revolt against the constitutional 
Government and in arms around the capitol; that in this 
national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings of 
mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its own duty 
to the whole country; that this war is not prosecuted upon 
our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose 
of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing 
or interfering with the rights or established institutions of 
those States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy 
of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance there- 
of and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equal- 
ity, and rights of the several States unimpaired; that as 
soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to 
cease. 

And whereas these resolutions though not joint or concur- 
rent in form, are substantially identical, and as such have 
hitherto been and yet are regarded as having expressed 
the sense of Congress upon the subject to which they relate; 
and 

Whereas the President of the United States by procla- 
mation of the 13th of June, 1865, declared that the insur- 
rection in the State of Tennessee had been suppressed, and 
that the authority of the United States therein was undis- 
puted, and such United States officers as had been duly 

330 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

commissioned were in the undisturbed exercise of their 
official functions ; and 

Whereas the President of the United States by further 
proclamation, issued on the 2d day of April, 1866, did 
promulgate and declare that there no longer existed any 
armed resistance of misguided citizens or others to the 
authority of the United States in any or in all the States 
before mentioned, excepting only the State of Texas, and 
did further promulgate and declare that the laws could be 
sustained and enforced in the several States before 
mentioned, except Texas, by the proper civil author- 
ities, State or Federal, and that the people of the said 
States, except Texas, are well and loyally disposed and 
have conformed or will conform in their legislation to the 
condition of affairs growing out of the amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States prohibiting slavery within 
the jurisdiction of the United States; 

And did further declare in the same proclamation that it is 
the manifest determination of the American people that no 
State, of its own will, has a right or power to go out of, or 
separate itself from, or be separated from the American 
Union; and that, therefore, each State ought to remain 
and constitute an integral part of the United States ; 

And did further declare in the same last-mentioned 
proclamation that the several aforementioned States, except- 
ing Texas, had in the manner aforesaid given satisfactory 
evidence that they acquiesce in this sovereign and important 
resolution of national unity; and 

Whereas the President of the United States in the same 
proclamation did further declare that it is believed to be a 
fundamental principle of government that the people who 
have revolted and who have been overcome and subdued 
must be dealt with so as to induce them voluntarily to 
become friends or else they must be held by absolute military 

331 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

power or devastated so as to prevent them from ever again 
doing harm as enemies, which last-named policy is abhorrent 
to humanity and to freedom; and 

Whereas the President did in the same proclamation fur- 
ther declare that the Constitution of the United States 
provides for constituent communities only as States, and 
not as Territories, dependencies, provinces, or protectorates ; 

And further, that such constituent States must necessa- 
rily be, and by the Constitution and laws of the United 
States are, made equals and placed upon a like footing 
as to political rights, immunities, dignity, and power with 
the several States with which they are united ; 

And did further declare that the observance of political 
equality, as a principle of right and justice, is well calcu- 
lated to encourage the people of the before-named States, 
except Texas, to become more and more constant and per- 
severing in their new allegiance; and 

Whereas the President did further declare that standing 
armies, military occupation, martial law, military tribunals, 
and the suppression of the writ of habeas corpus are in 
times of peace dangerous to public liberty, incompatible 
with the individual right of the citizen, contrary to the 
genius and spirit of our free institutions, and exhaustive 
of the national resources, and ought not, therefore, to be 
sanctioned or allowed except in cases of actual necessity 
for repelling invasion and suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion ; 

And the President did further, in the same proclamation, 
declare that the policy of the Government of the United 
States from the beginning of the insurrection to its over- 
throw and final suppression had been conducted in conform- 
ity with the principles in the last-named proclamation 
recited; and 

Whereas the President, in the said proclamation, of the 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

13th of June, 1865, upon the grounds therein stated and 
hereinbefore recited, did then and thereby proclaim and 
declare that the insurrection which heretofore existed in 
the several States before named, except in Texas, was at 
an end and was therefore to be so regarded; and 

Whereas subsequently to the said 2d day of April, 1866, 
the insurrection in the State of Texas has been completely 
and everywhere suppressed and ended and the authority 
of the United States has been successfully and completely 
established in the said State of Texas and now remains 
therein unassisted and undisputed, and such of the proper 
United States officers as have been duly commissioned within 
the limits of the said State are now in the undisturbed 
exercise of their official functions; and 

Whereas the laws can now be sustained and enforced 
in the said State of Texas by the proper civil authority, 
State or Federal, and the people of the said State of Texas, 
like the people of the other States before named, are well 
and loyally disposed and have conformed or will conform 
in their legislation to the condition of affairs growing out 
of the amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
prohibiting slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of 
the United States; and 

Whereas all the reasons and conclusions set forth in 
regard to the several States therein specially named now 
apply equally and in all respects to the State of Texas, 
as well as to the other States which have been involved in 
the insurrection; and 

Whereas adequate provision has been made by military 
orders to enforce the execution of the acts of Congress, 
aid the civil authorities, and secure obedience to the Con- 
stitution and laws of the United States within the State of 
Texas if a resort to military force for such purpose should 
at any time be necessary: 

333 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Now therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the 
United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the 
insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Texas 
is at an end and is to be henceforth so regarded in that 
State as in the other States before named in which the 
said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the 
aforesaid proclamation of the 2d of April, 1866. 

And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is 
at an end and that peace, order, and tranquility, and civil 
authority now exist in and throughout the whole United 
States of America. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
[Seal.] Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of 
August, A. D. 1866, and of the Independence of 
the United States of America the ninety-first. 

Andrew Johnson 
By the President: 

William H. Seward, 

Secretary of State. 



334, 



Treaty with Russia 1867 

Convention between the United States of America and 
His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, for the Cession of the 
Russian Possessions in North America to the United States, 
Concluded at Washington March 30, 1867; Ratification 
Advised by Senate April 9, 1867; Ratified by President 
May 28, 1867; Ratifications Exchanged at Washington 
June 20, 1867; Proclaimed, June 20, 1867. 

The United States of America and His Majesty the 
Emperor of all the Russias, being desirous of strengthen- 
ing, if possible, the good understanding which exists between 
them, have, for that purpose, appointed as their Plenipo- 
tentiaries, the President of the United States, William H. 
Seward, Secretary of State; and His Majesty the Emperor 
of all the Russias, the Privy Counsellor Edward de Stoeckl, 
his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to 
the United States ; 

And the said Plenipotentiaries, having exchanged their 
full powers, which were found to be in due form, have 
agreed upon and signed the following articles: 

ARTICLE I 

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to 
cede to the United States, by this convention, immediately 
upon the exchange of the ratifications thereof, all the terri- 
tory and dominion now possessed by his said Majesty on 
the continent of America and in adjacent islands, the same 
being contained within the geographical limits herein set 
forth, to wit: The eastern limit is the line of demarcation 
between the Russian and the British possessions in North 

S35 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

America, as established by the convention between Russia 
and Great Britain, of February 28-16, 1825, and described 
in Articles III and IV of said convention, in the following 
terms : 

" Commencing from the southernmost point of the island 
called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the paral- 
lel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and between 
the 131st and 133d degree of west longitude (meridian 
of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the north along 
the channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of 
the continent where it strikes the 56th degree of north lati- 
tude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarca- 
tion shall follow the summit of the mountains situated 
parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of 
the 141st degree of west longitude (of the same meridian) ; 
and finally, from the said point of intersection, the said 
meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolongation as far 
as the Frozen Ocean. 

" IV With reference to the line of demarcation laid 
down in the preceding article, it is understood — 

" 1st That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall 
belong wholly to Russia " (now, by this cession to the 
United States). 

" 2d That whenever the summit of the mountains which 
extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th 
degree of north latitude to the point of intersection of the 
141st degree of west longitude shall prove to be at the 
distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, 
the limit between the British possessions and the line of 
coast which is to belong to Russia as above mentioned (that 
is to say, the limit to the possessions ceded by this conven- 
tion), shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding 
of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of 
ten marine leagues therefrom." 

386 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

The western limit within which the territories and domin- 
ion conveyed are contained passes through a point in Beh- 
ring's Straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty 
minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian 
which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern 
or Ignalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook, 
and proceeds due north without limitation, into the same 
Frozen Ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the 
same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly south- 
west, through Behring's Straits and Behring's Sea, so as 
to pass midway between the northwest point of the island of 
St. Lawrence and the southeast point of Cape Choukotski, 
to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two west longi- 
tude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a 
southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the 
island of Attou and the Copper Island of the Kormandorski 
couplet or group, in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian 
of one hundred and ninety-three degrees west longitude, so 
as to include in the territory conveyed the whole of the 
Aleutian Islands east of that meridian. 



ARTICLE II 

In the cession of territory and dominion made by the 
preceding article are included the right of property in all 
public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public build- 
ings, fortifications, barracks, and other edifices which are 
not private individual property. It is, however, understood 
and agreed, that the churches which have been built in the 
ceded territory by the Russian Government, shall remain 
the property of such members of the Greek Oriental Church 
resident in the territory as may choose to worship therein. 
Any Government archives, papers, and documents relative 
to the territory and dominion aforesaid, which may now 

337 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

be existing there, will be left in the possession of the agent 
of the United States; but an authenticated copy of such 
of them as may be required, will be, at all times, given by 
the United States to the Russian Government,, or to such 
Russian officers or subjects as they may apply for. 



ARTICLE III 

The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their 
choice, reserving their natural allegiance, may return to 
Russia within three years ; but if they should prefer to 
remain in the ceded territory, they, with the exception of 
uncivilized native tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment 
of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of 
the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in 
the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. 
The uncivilized tribes will be subj ect to such laws and regu- 
lations as the United States may from time to time adopt 
in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country. 



ARTICLE IV 

His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias shall 
appoint, with convenient despatch, an agent or agents for 
the purpose of formally delivering to a similar agent or 
agents, appointed on behalf of the United States, the terri- 
tory, dominion, property, dependencies, and appurtenances 
which are ceded as above, and for doing any other act which 
may be necessary in regard thereto. But the cession, with 
the right of immediate possession, is nevertheless to be 
deemed complete and absolute on the exchange of ratifica- 
tions, without waiting for such formal delivery. 

338 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE V 

Immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of 
this convention, any fortifications or military posts which 
may be in the ceded territory shall be delivered to the agent 
of the United States, and any Russian troops which may 
be in the territory shall be withdrawn as soon as may be 
reasonably and conveniently practicable. 



ARTICLE VI 

In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United 
States agree to pay at the Treasury in Washington, within 
ten months after the exchange of the ratifications of this 
convention, to the diplomatic representative or other agent 
of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, duly 
authorized to receive the same, seven million two hundred 
thousand dollars in gold. The cession of territory and 
dominion herein made is hereby declared to be free and 
unincumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises, 
grants, or possessions, by any associated companies, whether 
corporate or incorporate, Russian or any other, or by any 
parties, except merely private individual property-holders; 
and the cession hereby made conveys all the rights, fran- 
chises, and privileges now belonging to Russia in the said 
territory or dominion, and appurtenances thereto. 



ARTICLE VII 

When this convention shall have been duly ratified by 
the President of the United States, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, on the one part, and, on the other, 
by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the ratifi- 

339 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

cations shall be exchanged at Washington within three 
months from the date thereof, or sooner if possible. 

In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have 
signed this convention, and thereto affixed the seals of their 
arms. 

Done at Washington the thirtieth day of March, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
seven. 

William H. Seward [l. s.] 
Edouard de Stoeckl [l. s.] 



340 



Treaty with Great Britain 1871 

Treaty between the United States of America and Her 
Britannic Majesty for an Amicable Settlement of all Causes 
of Difference between the Two Countries, Concluded at 
Washington May 8, 1871; Ratification Advised by Senate 
May 24, 1871; Ratified by President May 25, 1871; Rati- 
fications Exchanged at London June 17, 1871; Proclaimed 
July 4, 1871. 

The United States of America and Her Britannic Maj- 
esty, being desirous to provide for an amicable settlement 
of all causes of difference between the two countries, have 
for that purpose appointed their respective Plenipoten- 
tiaries, that is to say: The President of the United States 
has appointed, on the part of the United States, as Com- 
missioners in a Joint High Commission and Plenipoten- 
tiaries, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, Robert 
Gumming Schenck, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary to Great Britain; Samuel Nelson, an 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United 
States; Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, of Massachusetts; and 
George Henry Williams, of Oregon; and Her Britannic 
Majesty, on her part, has appointed as her High Commis- 
sioners and Plenipotentiaries, the Right Honourable George 
Frederick Samuel, Earl de Grey and Earl of Ripon, Vis- 
count Goderich, Baron Grantham, a Baronet, a Peer of the 
United Kingdom, Lord President of Her Majesty's Most 
Honourable Privy Council, Knight of the Most Noble Order 
of the Garter, etc., etc. ; the Right Honourable Sir Stafford 
Henry Northcote, Baronet, one of Her Majesty's Most 
Honourable Privy Council, a Member of Parliament, a 

341 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, 
etc., etc. ; Sir Edward Thornton, Knight Commander of the 
Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Her Majesty's Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United 
States of America; Sir John Alexander Macdonald, Knight 
Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, 
a Member of Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada, and 
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Her Majesty's 
Dominion of Canada; and Mountague Bernard, Esquire, 
Chichele Professor of International Law in the University 
of Oxford. 

And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged 
their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper 
form, have agreed to and concluded the following articles : 



ARTICLE I 

Whereas differences have arisen between the Government 
of the United States and the Government of Her Britannic 
Majesty, and still exist, growing out of the acts committed 
by the several vessels which have given rise to the claims 
generically known as the " Alabama Claims : " 

And whereas Her Britannic Majesty has authorized her 
High Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries to express, in a 
friendly spirit, the regret felt by Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment for the escape, under whatever circumstances, of the 
Alabama and other vessels from British ports, and for the 
depredations committed by those vessels: 

Now, in order to remove and adjust all complaints and 
claims on the part of the United States, and to provide for 
the speedy settlement of such claims which are not admitted 
by Her Britannic Majesty's Government, the high contract- 
ing parties agree that all the said claims, growing out of 
acts committed by the aforesaid vessels, and generically 

342 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

known as the " Alabama Claims/' shall be referred to a 
tribunal of arbitration to be composed of five Arbitrators, 
to be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: 
One shall be named by the President of the United States; 
one shall be named by Her Britannic Majesty; His Maj- 
esty the King of Italy shall be requested to name one; 
the President of the Swiss Confederation shall be requested 
to name one; and His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil shall 
be requested to name one. 

In case of the death, absence, or incapacity to serve of any 
or either of the said Arbitrators, or, in the event of either of 
the said Arbitrators omitting or declining or ceasing to 
act as such, the President of the United States, or Her 
Britannic Majesty, or His Majesty the King of Italy, or 
the President of the Swiss Confederation, or His Majesty 
the Emperor of Brazil, as the case may be, may forthwith 
name another person to act as Arbitrator in the place and 
stead of the Arbitrator originally named by such head of 
a State. 

And in the event of the refusal or omission for two 
months after receipt of the request from either of the high 
contracting parties of His Majesty the King of Italy, or 
the President of the Swiss Confederation, or His Majesty 
the Emperor of Brazil, to name an Arbitrator either to fill 
the original appointment or in the place of one who may 
have died, be absent, or incapacitated, or who may omit, 
decline, or from any cause cease to act as such Arbitrator, 
His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway shall be 
requested to name one or more persons, as the case may be, 
to act as such Arbitrator or Arbitrators. 

ARTICLE II 

The Arbitrators shall meet at Geneva, in Switzerland, at 
the earliest convenient day after they shall have been named, 

343 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and shall proceed impartially and carefully to examine 
and decide all questions that shall be laid before them on 
the part of the Governments of the United States and Her 
Britannic Majesty respectively. All questions considered 
by the tribunal, including the final award, shall be decided 
by a majority of all the Arbitrators. 

Each of the high contracting parties shall also name one 
person to attend the tribunal as its Agent to represent it 
generally in all matters connected with the arbitration. 

ARTICLE III 

The written or printed case of each of the two parties, 
accompanied by the documents, the official correspondence, 
and other evidence on which each relies, shall be delivered 
in duplicate to each of the Arbitrators and to the Agent of 
the other party as soon as may be after the organization 
of the tribunal, but within a period not exceeding six months 
from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this 
treaty. 

ARTICLE IV 

Within four months after the delivery on both sides of 
the written or printed case, either party may, in like man- 
ner, deliver in duplicate to each of the said Arbitrators, and 
to the Agent of the other party, a counter case and addi- 
tional documents, correspondence, and evidence, in reply 
to the case, documents, correspondence, and evidence so 
presented by the other party. 

The Arbitrators may, however, extend the time for deliv- 
ering such counter case, documents, correspondence, and 
evidence, when, in their judgment, it becomes necessary, 
in consequence of the distance of the place from which the 
evidence to be presented is to be procured. 

344 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

If in the case submitted to the Arbitrators either party 
shall have specified or alluded to any report or document 
in its own exclusive possession without annexing a copy, 
such party shall be bound, if the other party thinks proper 
to apply for it, to furnish that party with a copy thereof; 
and either party may call upon the other, through the Arbi- 
trators, to produce the originals or certified copies of any 
papers adduced as evidence, giving in each instance such 
reasonable notice as the Arbitrators may require. 



ARTICLE V 

It shall be the duty of the Agent of each party, within 
two months after the expiration of the time limited for the 
delivery of the counter case on both sides, to deliver in 
duplicate to each of the said Arbitrators and to the Agent of 
the other party a written or printed argument showing 
the points and referring to the evidence upon which his 
Government relies; and the Arbitrators may, if they desire 
further elucidation with regard to any point, require a 
written or printed statement or argument, or oral argument 
by counsel, upon it; but in such case the other party shall 
be entitled to reply either orally or in writing, as the case 
may be. 

ARTICLE VI 

In deciding the matters submitted to the Arbitrators, 
they shall be governed by the following three rules, which 
are agreed upon by the high contracting parties as rules 
to be taken as applicable to the case, and by such principles 
of international law not inconsistent therewith as the Ar- 
bitrators shall determine to have been applicable to the 



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RULES 

A neutral Government is bound — 

First, to use due diligence to prevent the fitting out, 
arming, or equipping, within its jurisdiction, of any vessel 
which it has reasonable ground to believe is intended to 
cruise or to carry on war against a Power with which it is 
at peace; and also to use like diligence to prevent the 
departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel intended to 
cruise or carry on war as above, such vessel having been 
specially adapted, in whole or in part, within such juris- 
diction, to warlike use. 

Secondly, not to permit or suffer either belligerent to 
make use of its ports or waters as the base of naval oper- 
ations against the other, or for the purpose of the renewal 
or augmentation of military supplies or arms, or the recruit- 
ment of men. 

Thirdly, to exercise due diligence in its own ports and 
waters, and, as to all persons within its jurisdiction, to 
prevent any violation of the foregoing obligations and 
duties. 

Her Britannic Majesty has commanded her High Com- 
missioners and Plenipotentiaries to declare that Her Maj- 
esty's Government cannot assent to the foregoing rules as 
a statement of principles of international law which were 
in force at the time when the claims mentioned in Article 
I arose, but that Her Majesty's Government, in order to 
evince its desire of strengthening the friendly relations 
between the two countries and of making satisfactory pro- 
vision for the future, agrees that in deciding the questions 
between the two countries arising out of those claims, the 
Arbitrators should assume that Her Majesty's Government 
had undertaken to act upon the principles set forth in these 
rules. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

And the high contracting parties agree to observe these 
rules as between themselves in future, and to bring them 
to the knowledge of other maritime Powers, and to invite 
them to accede to them. 

ARTICLE VII 

The decision of the tribunal shall, if possible, be made 
within three months from the close of the argument on both 
sides. 

It shall be made in writing and dated, and shall be 
signed by the Arbitrators who may assent to it. 

The said tribunal shall first determine as to each vessel 
separately whether Great Britain has, by any act or omis- 
sion, failed to fulfil any of the duties set forth in the fore- 
going three rules, or recognized by the principles of inter- 
national law not inconsistent with such rules, and shall 
certify such fact as to each of the said vessels. In case 
the tribunal find that Great Britain has failed to fulfil any 
duty or duties as aforesaid, it may, if it think proper, pro- 
ceed to award a sum in gross to be paid by Great Britain 
to the United States for all the claims referred to it; and 
in such case the gross sum so awarded shall be paid in coin 
by the Government of Great Britain to the Government 
of the United States, at Washington, within twelve months 
after the date of the award. 

The award shall be in duplicate, one copy whereof shall 
be delivered to the Agent of the United States for his 
Government, and the other copy shall be delivered to the 
Agent of Great Britain for his Government. 

ARTICLE VIII 

Each Government shall pay its own Agent and provide 
for the proper remuneration of the counsel employed by it 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and of the Arbitrator appointed by it, and for the expense 
of preparing and submitting its case to the tribunal. All 
other expenses connected with the arbitration shall be 
defrayed by the two Governments in equal moieties. 



ARTICLE IX 

The Arbitrators shall keep an accurate record of their 
proceedings, and may appoint and employ the necessary 
officers to assist them. 

ARTICLE X 

In case the tribunal finds that Great Britain has failed 
to fulfil any duty or duties as aforesaid, and does not award 
a sum in gross, the high contracting parties agree that a 
board of assessors shall be appointed to ascertain and 
determine what claims are valid, and what amount or 
amounts shall be paid by Great Britain to the United States 
on account of the liability arising from such failure, as to 
each vessel, according to the extent of such liability as 
decided by the Arbitrators. 

The board of assessors shall be constituted as follows: 
One member thereof shall be named by the President of 
the United States, one member thereof shall be named 
by Her Britannic Majesty, and one member thereof shall 
be named by the Representative at Washington of His Maj- 
esty the King of Italy; and in case of a vacancy happening 
from any cause, it shall be filled in the same manner in 
which the original appointment was made. 

As soon as possible after such nominations the board of 
assessors shall be organized in Washington, with power to 
hold their sittings there, or in New York, or in Boston. The 
members thereof shall severally subscribe a solemn declara- 
tion that they will impartially and carefully examine and 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

decide, to the best of their judgment and according to 
justice and equity, all matters submitted to them, and shall 
forthwith proceed, under such rules and regulations as they 
may prescribe, to the investigation of the claims which shall 
be presented to them by the Government of the United 
States, and shall examine and decide upon them in such 
order and manner as they may think proper, but upon such 
evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or 
on behalf of the Governments of the United States and of 
Great Britain, respectively. They shall be bound to hear 
on each separate claim, if required, one person on behalf 
of each Government, as counsel or agent. A majority of 
the Assessors in each case shall be sufficient for a decision. 

The decision of the Assessors shall be given upon each 
claim in writing, and shall be signed by them respectively 
and dated. 

Every claim shall be presented to the Assessors within 
six months from the day of their first meeting, but they 
may, for good cause shown, extend the time for the presen- 
tation of any claim to a further period not exceeding three 
months. 

The Assessors shall report to each Government, at or 
before the expiration of one year from the date of their 
first meeting, the amount of claims decided by them up to 
the date of such report; if further claims then remain unde- 
cided, they shall make a further report at or before the 
expiration of two years from the date of such first meeting ; 
and in case any claims remain undetermined at that time, 
they shall make a final report within a further period of 
six months. 

The report or reports shall be made in duplicate, and 
one copy thereof shall be delivered to the Secretary of State 
of the United States, and one copy thereof to the Represent- 
ative of Her Britannic Majesty at Washington. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

All sums of money which may be awarded under this 
article shall be payable at Washington, in coin, within twelve 
months after the delivery of each report. 

The board of assessors may employ such clerks as they 
shall think necessary. 

The expenses of the board of assessors shall be borne 
equally by the two Governments, and paid from time to 
time, as may be found expedient, on the production of 
accounts certified by the board. The remuneration of the 
Assessors shall also be paid by the two Governments in 
equal moieties in a similar manner. 



ARTICLE XI 

The high contracting parties engage to consider the result 
of the proceedings of the tribunal of arbitration and of the 
board of Assessors, should such board be appointed, as a 
full, perfect, final settlement of all the claims hereinbefore 
referred to, and further engage that every such claim, 
whether the same may or may not have been presented to 
the notice of, made, preferred, or laid before the tribunal 
or board, shall, from and after the conclusion of the pro- 
ceedings of the tribunal or board, be considered and treated 
as finally settled, barred, and thenceforth inadmissible. 

ARTICLE XII 

The high contracting parties agree that all claims on the 
part of corporations, companies, or private individuals, 
citizens of the United States, upon the Government of Her 
Britannic Majesty, arising out of acts committed against 
the persons or property of citizens of the United States 
during the period between the thirteenth of April, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-one, and the ninth of April, eighteen 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

hundred and sixty-five, inclusive, not being claims growing 
out of the acts of the vessels referred to in Article I of this 
treaty, and all claims, with the like exception, on the part of 
corporations, companies, or private individuals, subjects of 
Her Britannic Majesty, upon the Government of the United 
States, arising out of acts committed against the persons 
or property of subjects of Her Britannic Majesty during 
the same period, which may have been presented to either 
Government for its interposition with the other, and which 
yet remain unsettled, as well as any other such claims which 
may be presented within the time specified in Article XIV 
of this treaty, shall be referred to three Commissioners, to 
be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: One 
Commissioner shall be named by the President of the United 
States, one by Her Britannic Majesty, and a third by the 
President of the United States and Her Britannic Majesty 
conjointly; and in case the third Commissioner shall not 
have been so named within a period of three months from 
the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, 
then the third Commissioner shall be named by the Repre- 
sentative at Washington of His Majesty the King of Spain. 
In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any Commis- 
sioner, or in the event of any Commissioner omitting or 
ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner 
hereinbefore provided for making the original appoint- 
ment; the period of three months in case of such substitu- 
tion being calculated from the date of the happening of 
the vacancy. 

The Commissioners so named shall meet. at Washington at 
the earliest convenient period after they have been respec- 
tively named; and shall, before proceeding to any business, 
make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will im- 
partially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of 
their judgment, and according to justice and equity, all such 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

claims as shall be laid before them on the part of the Govern- 
ments of the United States and of Her Britannic Majesty, 
respectively; and such declaration shall be entered on the 
record of their proceedings. 



ARTICLE XIII 

The Commissioners shall then forthwith proceed to the 
investigation of the claims which shall be presented to them. 
They shall investigate and decide such claims in such order 
and such manner as they may think proper, but upon such 
evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or 
on behalf of the respective Governments. They shall be 
bound to receive and consider all written documents or state- 
ments which may be presented to them by or on behalf of 
the respective Governments in support of, or in answer to, 
any claim, and to hear, if required, one person on each side, 
on behalf of each Government, as counsel or agent for 
such Government, on each and every separate claim. A 
majority of the Commissioners shall be sufficient for an 
award in each case. The award shall be given upon each 
claim in writing, and shall be signed by the Commissioners 
assenting to it. It shall be competent for each Government 
to name one person to attend the Commissioners as its agent, 
to present and support claims on its behalf, and to answer 
claims made upon it, and to represent it generally in all 
matters connected with the investigation and decision 
thereof. 

The high contracting parties hereby engage to consider 
the decision of the Commissioners as absolutely final and 
conclusive upon each claim decided upon by them, and to give 
full effect to such decisions without any objection, evasion, 
or delay whatsoever. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE XIV 

Every claim shall be presented to the Commissioners 
within six months from the day of their first meeting, unless 
in any case where reasons for delay shall be established 
to the satisfaction of the Commissioners, and then, and in 
any such case, the period for presenting the claim may be 
extended by them to any time not exceeding three months 
longer. 

The Commissioners shall be bound to examine and decide 
upon every claim within two years from the day of their 
first meeting. It shall be competent for the Commissioners 
to decide in each case whether any claim has or has not been 
duly made, preferred, and laid before them, either wholly 
or to any and what extent, according to the true intent and 
meaning of this treaty. 

ARTICLE XV 

All sums of money which may be awarded by the Com- 
missioners on account of any claim shall be paid by the 
one Government to the other, as the case may be, within 
twelve months after the date of the final award, without 
interest, and without any deduction save as specified in 
Article XVI of this treaty. 

ARTICLE XVI 

The Commissioners shall keep an accurate record, and 
correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the 
dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a secretary, and 
any other necessary officer, or officers, to assist them in the 
transaction of the business which may come before them. 

Each Government shall pay its own Commissioner and 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Agent or Counsel. All other expenses shall be defrayed 
by the two Governments in equal moieties. 

The whole expenses of the commission, including con- 
tingent expenses, shall be defrayed by a ratable deduction 
on the amount of the sums awarded by the Commissioners, 
provided always that such deduction shall not exceed the 
rate of five per cent, on the sums so awarded. 

ARTICLE XVII 

The high contracting parties engage to consider the result 
of the proceedings of this commission as a full, perfect, and 
final settlement of all such claims as are mentioned in 
Article XII of this treaty upon either Government; and fur- 
ther engage that every such claim, whether or not the same 
may have been presented to the notice of, made, preferred, 
or laid before the said commission, shall, from and after 
the conclusion of the proceedings of the said commission, be 
considered and treated as finally settled, barred, and thence- 
forth inadmissible. 

ARTICLE XVIII 

It is agreed by the high contracting parties that, in addi- 
tion to the liberty secured to the United States fishermen 
by the convention between the United States and Great 
Britain, signed at London on the 20th day of October, 1818, 
of taking, curing, and drying fish on certain coasts of the 
British North American Colonies therein defined, the inhabit- 
ants of the United States shall have, in common with the sub- 
jects of Her Britannic Majesty, the liberty, for the term of 
years mentioned in Article XXXIII of this treaty, to take 
fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea-coasts and 
shores, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks, of the provinces 
of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the colony 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

of Prince Edward's Island, and of the several islands there- 
unto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from 
the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts and 
shores and islands, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, 
for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish; 
provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the 
rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in 
the peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their 
occupancy for the same purpose. 

It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies 
solely to the sea fishery, and that the salmon and shad fish- 
eries, and all other fisheries in rivers and the mouths of 
rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for British fishermen. 



ARTICLE XIX 

It is agreed by the high contracting parties that British 
subjects shall have, in common with the citizens of the 
United States, the liberty, for the term of years mentioned 
in Article XXXIII of this treaty, to take fish of every kind, 
except shell-fish, on the eastern sea-coasts and shores of 
the United States north of the thirty-ninth parallel of north 
latitude, and on the shores of the several islands thereunto 
adjacent, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks of the said 
sea-coasts and shores of the United States and of the said 
islands, without being restricted to any distance from the 
shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts of the 
United States and of the islands aforesaid, for the purpose 
of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that, 
in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private 
property, or with the fishermen of the United States in the 
peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their occu- 
pancy for the same purpose. 

355 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies 
solely to the sea fishery, and that salmon and shad fisheries, 
and all other fisheries in rivers and mouths of rivers, are 
hereby reserved exclusively for fishermen of the United 
States. 

ARTICLE xx 

It is agreed that the places designated by the Commis- 
sioners appointed under the first article of the treaty 
between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at 
Washington on the 5th of June, 1854, upon the coasts of 
Her Britannic Maj esty's dominions and the United States, as 
places reserved for the common right of fishing under that 
treaty, shall be regarded as in like manner reserved from 
the common right of fishing under the preceding articles. 
In case any question should arise between the Governments 
of the United States and of Her Britannic Majesty as to 
the common right of fishing in places not thus designated 
as reserved, it is agreed that a commission shall be appointed 
to designate such places, and shall be constituted in the same 
manner, and have the same powers, duties, and authority as 
the commission appointed under the said first article of the 
treaty of the 5th of June, 1854. 



ARTICLE XXI 

It is agreed that, for the term of years mentioned in 
Article XXXIII of this treaty, fish oil and fish of all kinds 
(except fish of the inland lakes, and of the rivers falling 
into them, and except fish preserved in oil), being the prod- 
uce of the fisheries of the United States, or of the Dominion 
of Canada, or of Prince Edward's Island, shall be admitted 
into each country, respectively free of duty. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XXII 

Inasmuch as it is asserted by the Government of Her 
Britannic Majesty that the privileges accorded to the citi- 
zens of the United States under Article XVIII of this treaty 
are of greater value than those accorded by Articles XIX 
and XXI of this treaty to the subjects of Her Britannic 
Majesty, and this assertion is not admitted by the Govern- 
ment of the United States, it is further agreed that Com- 
missioners shall be appointed to determine, having regard 
to the privileges accorded by the United States to the sub- 
jects of Her Britannic Majesty, as stated in Articles XIX 
and XXI of this treaty, the amount of any compensation 
which, in their opinion, ought to be paid by the Government 
of the United States to the Government of Her Britannic 
Majesty in return for the privileges accorded to the citizens 
of the United States under Article XVIII of this treaty; and 
that any sum of money which the said Commissioners may 
so award shall be paid by the United States Government, 
in a gross sum, within twelve months after such award shall 
have been given. 

ARTICLE XXIII 

The Commissioners referred to in the preceding article 
shall be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: 
One Commissioner shall be named by the President of the 
United States, one by Her Britannic Majesty, and a third 
by the President of the United States and Her Britannic 
Majesty conjointly; and in case the third Commissioner 
shall not have been so named within a period of three months 
from the date when this article shall take effect, then the 
third Commissioner shall be named by the Representative 
at London of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria and 
King of Hungary. In case of the death, absence, or inca- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

parity of any Commissioner, or in the event of any Com- 
missioner omitting or ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be 
filled in the manner hereinbefore provided for making the 
original appointment, the period of three months in case 
of such substitution being calculated from the date of the 
happening of the vacancy. 

The Commissioners so named shall meet in the city of 
Halifax, in the province of Nova Scotia, at the earliest 
convenient period after they have been respectively named, 
and shall, before proceeding to any business, make and sub- 
scribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and 
carefully examine and decide the matters referred to them 
to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and 
equity; and such declaration shall be entered on the record 
of their proceedings. 

Each of the high contracting parties shall also name one 
person to attend the commission as its Agent, to represent 
it generally in all matters connected with the commission. 



ARTICLE XXIV 

The proceedings shall be conducted in such order as the 
Commissioners appointed under Articles XXII and XXIII 
of this treaty shall determine. They shall be bound to 
receive such oral or written testimony as either Government 
may present. If either party shall offer oral testimony, 
the other party shall have the right of cross-examination, 
under such rules as the Commissioners shall prescribe. 

If in the case submitted to the Commissioners either 
party shall have specified or alluded to any report or docu- 
ment in its own exclusive possession, without annexing a 
copy, such party shall be bound, if the other party thinks 
proper to apply for it, to furnish that party with a copy 
thereof; and either party may call upon the other, through 

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the Commissioners, to produce the originals or certified 
copies of any papers adduced as evidence, giving in each 
instance such reasonable notice as the Commissioners may 
require. 

The case on either side shall be closed within a period of 
six months from the date of the organization of the Commis- 
sion, and the Commissioners shall be requested to give 
their award as soon as possible thereafter. The aforesaid 
period of six months may be extended for three months 
in case of a vacancy occurring among the Commissioners 
under the circumstances contemplated in Article XXIII of 
this treaty. 

ARTICLE XXV 

The Commissioners shall keep an accurate record and 
correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the 
dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a Secretary 
and other necessary officer or officers to assist them in the 
transaction of the business which may come before them, 

Each of the high contracting parties shall pay its own 
Commissioner and Agent or Counsel; all other expenses 
shall be defrayed by the two Governments in equal moieties. 

ARTICLE XXVI 

The navigation of the river St. Lawrence, ascending and 
descending, from the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, 
where it ceases to form the boundary between the two coun- 
tries, from, to, and into the sea, shall forever remain free 
and open for the purposes of commerce to the citizens of the 
United States, subject to any laws and regulations of Great 
Britain, or of the Dominion of Canada, not inconsistent 
with such privilege of free navigation. 

The navigation of the rivers Yukon, Porcupine, and Stik- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ine, ascending and descending from, to. and into the sea, 
shall forever remain free and open for the purposes of com- 
merce to the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty and to the 
citizens of the United States, subject to any laws and regu- 
lations of either country within its own territory, not incon- 
sistent with such privilege of free navigation. 



ARTICLE XXVII 

The Government of Her Britannic Majesty engages to 
urge upon the Government of the Dominion of Canada to 
secure to the citizens of the United States the use of the 
Welland, St. Lawrence, and other canals in the Dominion 
on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the Dominion ; 
and the Government of the United States engages that the 
subjects of Her Britannic Majesty shall enjoy the use of 
the St. Clair Flats canal on terms of equality with the 
inhabitants of the United States, and further engages to 
urge upon the State Governments to secure to the subjects 
of Her Britannic Majesty the use of the several State 
canals connected with the navigation of the lakes or rivers 
traversed by or contiguous to the boundary line between the 
possessions of the high contracting parties, on terms of 
equality with the inhabitants of the United States. 



ARTICLE XXVIII 

The navigation of Lake Michigan shall also, for the term 
of years mentioned in Article XXXIII of this treaty, be 
free and open for the purposes of commerce to the subjects 
of Her Britannic Majesty, subject to any laws and regula- 
tions of the United States or of the States bordering thereon 
not inconsistent with such privilege of free navigation. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XXIX 

It is agreed that, for the term of years mentioned in 
Article XXXIII of this treaty, goods, wares, or merchan- 
dise arriving at the ports of New York, Boston, and Port- 
land, and any other ports in the United States which have 
been or may, from time to time, be specially designated 
by the President of the United States, and destined for Her 
Britannic Majesty's possessions in North America, may be 
entered at the proper custom-house and conveyed in transit, 
without the payment of duties, through the territory of the 
United States, under such rules, regulations, and conditions 
for the protection of the revenue as the Government of the 
United States may from time to time prescribe; and under 
like rules, regulations, and conditions, goods, wares, or mer- 
chandise may be conveyed in transit, without the payment 
of duties, from such possessions through the territory of 
the United States for export from the said ports of the 
United States. 

It is further agreed that, for the like period, goods, wares, 
or merchandise arriving at any of the ports of Her Britannic 
Majesty's possessions in North America, and destined for 
the United States, may be entered at the proper custom- 
house and conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties, 
through the said possessions, under such rules and regu- 
lations, and conditions for the protection of the revenue, 
as the Governments of the said possessions may from time 
to time prescribe; and, under like rules, regulations, and 
conditions, goods, wares, or merchandise may be conveyed 
in transit, without payment of duties, from the United 
States through the said possessions to other places in the 
United States, or for export from ports in the said 
possessions. 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XXX 






It is agreed that, for the terms of years mentioned in 
Article XXXIII of this treaty, subjects of Her Britannic 
Majesty may carry in British vessels, without payment of 
duty, goods, wares, or merchandise from one port or place 
within the territory of the United States upon the St. Law- 
rence, the great lakes, and the rivers connecting the same, 
to another port or place within the territory of the United 
States as aforesaid : Provided, That a portion of such trans- 
portation is made through the Dominion of Canada by land 
carriage and in bond, under such rules and regulations as 
may be agreed upon between the Government of Her Bri- 
tannic Majesty and the Government of the United States. 

Citizens of the United States may for the like period 
carry in United States vessels, without payment of duty, 
goods, wares, or merchandise from one port or place within 
the possessions of Her Britannic Majesty in North America 
to another port or place within the said possessions: Pro- 
vided, That a portion of such transportation is made through 
the territory of the United States by land carriage and in 
bond, under such rules and regulations as may be agreed 
upon between the Government of the United States and the 
Government of Her Britannic Majesty. 

The Government of the United States further engages 
not to impose any export duties on goods, wares, or mer- 
chandise carried under this article through the territory 
of the United States; and Her Majesty's Government 
engages to urge the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada 
and the Legislatures of the other colonies not to impose 
any export duties on goods, wares, or merchandise carried 
under this article ; and the Government of the United States 
may, in case such export duties are imposed by the Dominion 
of Canada, suspend, during the period that such duties are 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

imposed, the right of carrying granted under this article 
in favor of the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty. 

The Government of the United States may suspend the 
right of carrying granted in favor of the subjects of Her 
Britannic Majesty under this article, in case the Dominion 
of Canada should at any time deprive the citizens of the 
United States of the use of the canals in the said Dominion 
on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the Dominion, 
as provided in Article XXVII. 

ARTICLE XXXI 

The Government of Her Britannic Majesty further 
engages to urge upon the Parliament of the Dominion of 
Canada and the Legislature of New Brunswick, that no 
export duty, or other duty, shall be levied on lumber or 
timber of any kind cut on that portion of the American ter- 
ritory in the State of Maine watered by the river St. John 
and its tributaries, and floated down that river to the sea, 
when the same is shipped to the United States from the 
province of New Brunswick. And, in case any such export 
or other duty continues to be levied after the expiration of 
one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of 
this treaty, it is agreed that the Government of the United 
States may suspend the right of carrying hereinbefore 
granted under Article XXX of this treaty for such period 
as such export or other duty may be levied. 

ARTICLE XXXII 

It is further agreed that the provisions and stipulations 
of Articles XVIII to XXV of this treaty, inclusive, shall 
extend to the colony of Newfoundland, so far as they are ap- 
plicable. But if the Imperial Parliament, the Legislature of 

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Newfoundland, or the Congress of the United States, shall 
not embrace the colony of Newfoundland in their laws 
enacted for carrying the foregoing articles into effect, then 
this article shall be of no effect; but the omission to make 
provision by law to give it effect, by either of the legislative 
bodies aforesaid, shall not in any way impair any other 
articles of this treaty. 

ARTICLE XXXIII 

The foregoing Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and 
Article XXX of this treaty, shall take effect as soon as the 
laws required to carry them into operation shall have been 
passed by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, by the 
Parliament of Canada, and by the Legislature of Prince 
Edward's Island on the one hand, and by the Congress of 
the United States on the other. Such assent having been 
given, the said articles shall remain in force for the period 
of ten years from the date at which they may come into 
operation; and further until the expiration of two years 
after either of the high contracting parties shall have given 
notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same; each 
of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such 
notice to the other at the end of the said period of ten years 
or at any time afterward. 

ARTICLE XXXIV 

Whereas it is stipulated by Article I of the treaty con- 
cluded at Washington on the 15th of June, 1846, between 
the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, that the line 
of boundary between the territories of the United States and 
those of Her Britannic Majesty, from the point on the 
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude up to which it had 

364 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

already been ascertained, should be continued westward 
along the said parallel of north latitude " to the middle of 
the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's 
Island, and thence southerly, through the middle of the said 
channel and of Fuca Straits, to the Pacific Ocean; " and 
whereas the Commissioners appointed by the two high con- 
tracting parties to determine that portion of the boundary 
which runs southerly through the middle of the channel 
aforesaid, were unable to agree upon the same ; and whereas 
the Government of Her Britannic Majesty claims that such 
boundary line should, under the terms of the treaty above 
recited, be run through the Rosario Straits, and the Govern- 
ment of the United States claims that it should be run 
through the Canal de Haro, it is agreed that the respective 
claims of the Government of the United States and of the 
Government of Her Britannic Majesty shall be submitted 
to the arbitration and award of His Majesty the Emperor 
of Germany, who, having regard to the above-mentioned 
article of the said treaty, shall decide thereupon, finally 
and without appeal, which of those claims is most in accord- 
ance with the true interpretation of the treaty of June 15, 
1846. 

ARTICLE XXXV 

The award of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany 
shall be considered as absolutely final and conclusive; and 
full effect shall be given to such award without any objec- 
tion, evasion, or delay whatsoever. Such decision shall be 
given in writing and dated; it shall be in whatsoever form 
His Majesty may choose to adopt; it shall be delivered to 
the Representatives or other public Agents of the United 
States and of Great Britain, respectively, who may be 
actually at Berlin, and shall be considered as operative from 
the day of the date of the delivery thereof. 

365 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XXXVI 

The written or printed case of each of the two parties, 
accompanied by the evidence offered in support of the same, 
shall be laid before His Majesty the Emperor of Germany 
within six months from the date of the exchange of the 
ratifications of this treaty, and a copy of such case and 
evidence shall be communicated by each party to the other, 
through their respective Representatives at Berlin. 

The high contracting parties may include in the evidence 
to be considered by the Arbitrator such documents, official 
correspondence, and other official or public statements bear- 
ing on the subject of the reference as they may consider 
necessary to the support of their respective cases. 

After the written or printed case shall have been com- 
municated by each party to the other, each party shall have 
the power of drawing up and laying before the Arbitrator 
a second and definitive statement, if it think fit to do so, in 
reply to the case of the other party so communicated, which 
definitive statement shall be so laid before the Arbitrator, 
and also be mutually communicated in the same manner 
as aforesaid, by each party to the other, within six months 
from the date of laying the first statement of the case before 
the Arbitrator. 

ARTICLE XXXVII 

If, in the case submitted to the Arbitrator, either party 
shall specify or allude to any report or document in its own 
exclusive possession without annexing a copy, such party 
shall be bound, if the other party thinks proper to apply 
for it, to furnish that party with a copy thereof, and either 
party may call upon the other, through the Arbitrator, to 
produce the originals or certified copies of any papers 
adduced as evidence, giving in each instance such reasonable 

366 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

notice as the Arbitrator may require. And if the Arbitrator 
should desire further elucidation or evidence with regard 
to any point contained in the statements laid before him, he 
shall be at liberty to require it from either party, and he 
shall be at liberty to hear one Counsel or Agent for each 
party, in relation to any matter, and at such time, and in 
such manner, as he may think fit. 

ARTICLE XXXVIII 

The Representatives or other public Agents of the United 
States and of Great Britain at Berlin, respectively, shall 
be considered as the Agents of their respective Governments 
to conduct their cases before the Arbitrator, who shall be 
requested to address all his communications and give all his 
notices to such Representatives or other public Agents, who 
shall represent their respective Governments generally, in 
all matters connected with the arbitration. 

ARTICLE XXXIX 

It shall be competent to the Arbitrator to proceed in 
the said arbitration, and all matters relating thereto, as and 
when he shall see fit, either in person, or by a person or 
persons named by him for that purpose, either in the pres- 
ence or absence of either or both Agents, and either orally 
or by written discussion or otherwise. 

ARTICLE XL 

The Arbitrator may, if he think fit, appoint a Secretary, 
or Clerk, for the purposes of the proposed arbitration, at 
such rate of remuneration as he shall think proper. This, 
and all other expenses of and connected with the said arbi- 
tration, shall be provided for as hereinafter stipulated. 

367 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE XLI 

The Arbitrator shall be requested to deliver, together with 
his award, an account of all the costs and expenses which 
he may have been put to in relation to this matter, which 
shall forthwith be repaid by the two Governments in equal 
moieties. 

ARTICLE XLII 

The Arbitrator shall be requested to give his award in 
writing as early as convenient after the whole case on each 
side shall have been laid before him, and to deliver one copy 
thereof to each of the said Agents. 

ARTICLE XLIII 

The present treaty shall be duly ratified by the President 
of the United States of America, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic 
Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged either at 
Washington or at London within six months from the date 
hereof, or earlier if possible. 

In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 
have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals. 

Done in duplicate at Washington the eighth day of May, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-one. 



[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 
[l. s. 



Hamilton Fish 

RoBT. C. SCHENCK 

Samuel Nelson 
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar 
Geo. H. Williams 
De Grey & Ripon 
Stafford H. Northcote 
Edwd. Thornton 
John A. MacDonald 
Mountague Bernard 
368 



Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 1898 

Joint Resolution To provide for annexing the Hawaiian 
Islands to the United States 

Whereas the Government of the Republic of Hawaii 
having, in due form, signified its consent, in the manner 
provided by its constitution, to cede absolutely and without 
reserve to the United States of America all rights of sover- 
eignty of whatsoever kind in and over the Hawaiian Islands 
and their dependencies, and also to cede and transfer to 
the United States the absolute fee and ownership of all 
public, Government, or Crown lands, public buildings or 
edifices, ports, harbors, military equipment, and all other 
public property of every kind and description belonging 
to the Government of the Hawaiian Islands, together with 
every right and appurtenance thereunto appertaining: 
Therefore, 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 
said cession is accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and that 
the said Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies be, and 
they are hereby, annexed as a part of the territory of the 
United States and are subject to the sovereign dominion 
thereof, and that all and singular the property and rights 
hereinbefore mentioned are vested in the United States of 
America. 

The existing laws of the United States relative to public 
lands shall not apply to such lands in the Hawaiian Islands; 
but the Congress of the United States shall enact special 
laws for their management and disposition: Provided, That 
all revenue from or proceeds of the same, except as regards 

369 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

such part thereof as may be used or occupied for the civil, 
military, or naval purposes of the United States, or may be 
assigned for the use of the local government, shall be used 
solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian 
Islands for educational and other public purposes. 

Until Congress shall provide for the government of such 
islands all the civil, judicial, and military powers exercised 
by the officers of the existing government in said islands shall 
be vested in such person or persons and shall be exercised 
in such manner as the President of the United States shall 
direct; and the President shall have power to remove said 
officers and fill the vacancies so occasioned. 

The existing treaties of the Hawaiian Islands with for- 
eign nations shall forthwith cease and determine, being 
replaced by such treaties as may exist, or as may be here- 
after concluded, between the United States and such foreign 
nations. The municipal legislation of the Hawaiian Islands, 
not enacted for the fulfillment of the treaties so extin- 
guished, and not inconsistent with this joint resolution 
nor contrary to the Constitution of the United States nor to 
any existing treaty of the United States, shall remain in 
force until the Congress of the United States shall otherwise 
determine. 

Until legislation shall be enacted extending the United 
States customs laws and regulations to the Hawaiian Islands 
the existing customs relations of the Hawaiian Islands with 
the United States and other countries shall remain 
unchanged. 

The public debt of the Republic of Hawaii, lawfully 
existing at the date of the passage of this joint resolution, 
including the amounts due to depositors in the Hawaiian 
Postal Savings Bank, is hereby assumed by the Government 
of the United States ; but the liability of the United States 
in this regard shall in no case exceed four million dollars. 

370 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

So long, however, as the existing Government and the pres- 
ent commercial relations of the Hawaiian Islands are con- 
tinued as hereinbefore provided said Government shall 
continue to pay the interest on said debt. 

There shall be no further immigration of Chinese into the 
Hawaiian Islands, except upon such conditions as are now 
or may hereafter be allowed by the laws of the United 
States; and no Chinese, by reason of anything herein con- 
tained, shall be allowed to enter the United States from the 
Hawaiian Islands. 

The President shall appoint five commissioners, at least 
two of whom shall be residents of the Hawaiian Islands, 
who shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, recommend to 
Congress such legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands 
as they shall deem necessary or proper. 

Sec. 2. That the commissioners hereinbefore provided for 
shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. 

Sec. 3. That the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, 
or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropri- 
ated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, and to be immediately available, to be 
expended at the discretion of the President of the United 
States of America, for the purpose of carrying this joint 
resolution into effect. 

Approved, July 7, 1898. 



371 



Recognition of the Independence of Cuba 1898 

Joint Resolution for the recognition of the independence 
of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Government of 
Spain relinquish its authority and government in the 
Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces 
from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President 
of the United States to use the land and naval forces of 
the United States to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for 
more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own 
borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the 
United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, 
culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United 
States battle ship, with two hundred and sixty-six of its 
officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of 
Havana, and can not longer be endured, as has been set 
forth by the President of the United States in his message 
to Congress of April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
eight, upon which the action of Congress was invited: 
Therefore, 

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, First. 
That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent. 

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to 
demand, and the Government of the United States does 
hereby demand, that the Government of Spain at once 
relinquish its authority and government in the Island of 
Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba 
and Cuban waters. 

372 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

Third. That the President of the United States be, and 
he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land 
and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the 
actual service of the United States the militia of the several 
States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these 
resolutions into effect. 

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any 
disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, 
or control over said Islands except for the pacification 
thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accom- 
plished, to leave the government and control of the Island 
to its people. 

Approved, April 20, 1898. 



37$ 



Treaty with Spain 1898 

Treaty of Peace between the United States of America 
and the Kingdom of Spain, Signed at Paris, December 10, 
1898; ratification advised by the Senate, February 6, 1899; 
ratified by the President, February 6, 1 899 ; ratified by Her 
Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, March 19, 1899; 
ratifications exchanged at Washington, April 11, 1899; pro- 
claimed at Washington, April 11, 1899- 

The United States of America and Her Majesty 
the Queen Regent of Spain, in the name of her 
august son Don Alfonso XIII, desiring to end the state 
of war now existing between the two countries, have for that 
purpose appointed as Plenipotentiaries: 

The President of the United States, 

William R. Day, Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, 
George Gray, and Whitelaw Reid, citizens of the United 
States ; 

And Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, 

Don Eugenio Montero Rios, President of the Senate, 

Don Buenaventura de Abarzuza, Senator of the King- 
dom, and ex-Minister of the Crown, 

Don Jose de Garnica, Deputy to the Cortes and Asso- 
ciate Justice of the Supreme Court; 

Don Wenceslao Ramirez de Villa-Urrutia, Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Brussels, 
and 

Don Rafael Cerero, General of Division; 

Who, having assembled in Paris, and having exchanged 
their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper 
form, have, after discussion of the matters before them, 
agreed upon the following articles: 

374 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

ARTICLE I 

Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title 
to Cuba. 

And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be 
occupied by the United States, the United States will, so 
long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the 
obligations that may under international law result from 
the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and 
property. 

ARTICLE II 

Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto 
Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in 
the West Indies, and the island of Guam in the Marianas 
or Ladrones. 

ARTICLE III 

Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known 
as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands 
lying within the following line: 

A line running from west to east along or near the twen- 
tieth parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of 
the navigable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and 
eighteenth (118th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh 
(127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, 
thence along the one hundred and twenty -seventh (127th) 
degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the par- 
allel of four degrees and forty five minutes (4° 45') north 
latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and 
forty-five minutes (4° 45') north latitude to its intersec- 
tion with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nine- 
teen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 35') east of 
Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one 

375 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 
35') east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven 
degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') north, thence along the 
parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7° 
40') north to its intersection with the one hundred and six- 
teenth (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Green- 
wich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth 
(10th) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hun- 
dred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude 
east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and 
eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of 
Greenwich to the point of beginning. 

The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty 
million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the 
exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. 

ARTICLE IV 

The United States will, for the term of ten years from 
the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present 
treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports 
of the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships and 
merchandise of the United States. 



article v 

The United States will, upon the signature of the present 
treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish 
soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila 
by the American forces. The arms of the soldiers in ques- 
tion shall be restored to them. 

Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the 
present treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well 
as the island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon 

376 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

by the Commissioners appointed to arrange for the evacua- 
tion of Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, 
under the Protocol of August 12, 1898, which is to continue 
in force till its provisions are completely executed. 

The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine 
Islands and Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the 
two Governments. Stands of colors, uncaptured war vessels, 
small arms, guns of all calibres, with their carriages and 
accessories, powder, ammunition, live stock, and materials 
and supplies of all kinds, belonging to the land and naval 
forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the 
property of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of 
field artillery, in the fortifications and coast defences, shall 
remain in their emplacements for the term of six months, 
to be reckoned from the exchange of ratifications of the 
treaty; and the United States may, in the meantime, pur- 
chase such material from Spain, if a satisfactory agreement 
between the two Governments on the subject shall be 
reached. 

ARTICLE VI 

Spain will, upon the signature of the present treaty, 
release all prisoners of war, and all persons detained or 
imprisoned for political offences, in connection with the 
insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines and the war with 
the United States. 

Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons 
made prisoners of war by the American forces, and will 
undertake to obtain the release of all Spanish prisoners in 
the hands of the insurgents in Cuba and the Philippines. 

The Government of the United States will at its own 
cost return to Spain and the Government of Spain will at its 
own cost return to the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and 
the Philippines, according to the situation of their respective 

377 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

homes, prisoners released or caused to be released by them, 
respectively, under this article. 

ARTICLE VII 

The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all 
claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, 
of either Government, or of its citizens or subjects, against 
the other Government, that may have arisen since the begin- 
ning of the late insurrection in Cuba and prior to the 
exchange of ratifications of the present treaty, including 
all claims for indemnity for the cost of the war. 

The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of 
its citizens against Spain relinquished in this article. 

ARTICLE VIII 

In conformity with the provisions of Articles I, II, and 
III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba, and cedes in 
Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, in the island 
of Guam, and in the Philippine Archipelago, all the build- 
ings, wharves, barracks, forts, structures, public highways 
and other immovable property which, in conformity with 
law, belong to the public domain, and as such belong to the 
Crown of Spain. 

And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or 
cession, as the case may be, to which the preceding para- 
graph refers, cannot in any respect impair the property 
or rights which by law belong to the peaceful possession 
of property of all kinds, of provinces, municipalities, pub- 
lic or private establishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies, 
or any other associations having legal capacity to acquire 
and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced 
or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality 
such individuals may be. 

378 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may 
be, includes all documents exclusively referring to the sover- 
eignty relinquished or ceded that may exist in the archives 
of the Peninsula. Where any document in such archives 
only in part relates to said sovereignty, a copy of such part 
will be furnished whenever it shall be requested. Like rules 
shall be reciprocally observed in favor of Spain in request 
of documents in the archives of the islands above referred to. 

In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case 
may be, are also included such rights as the Crown of Spain 
and its authorities possess in respect of the official archives 
and records, executive as well as judicial, in the islands 
above referred to, which relate to said islands or the rights 
and property of their inhabitants. Such archives and rec- 
ords shall be carefully preserved, and private persons shall 
without distinction have the right to require, in accordance 
with law, authenticated copies of the contracts, wills and 
other instruments forming part of notarial protocols or files, 
or which may be contained in the executive or judicial 
archives, be the latter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid. 

ARTICLE IX 

Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula, residing in 
the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relin- 
quishes or cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such terri- 
tory or may remove therefrom, retaining in either event all 
their rights of property, including the right to sell or dis- 
pose of such property or of its proceeds; and they shall 
also have the right to carry on their industry, commerce and 
professions, being subject in respect thereof to such laws 
as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they remain 
in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the 
Crown of Spain by making, before a court of record, within 

379 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

a year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of 
this treaty, a declaration of their decision to preserve such 
allegiance; in default of which declaration they shall be 
held to have renounced it and to have adopted the national- 
ity of the territory in which they may reside. 

The civil rights and political status of the native inhabit- 
ants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States 
shall be determined by the Congress. 

article x 

The inhabitants of the territories over which Spain 
relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in 
the free exercise of their religion. 

ARTICLE XI 

The Spaniards residing in the territories over which 
Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty 
shall be subject in matters civil as well as criminal to the 
jurisdiction of the courts of the country wherein they 
reside, pursuant to the ordinary laws governing the same; 
and they shall have the right to appear before such courts, 
and to pursue the same course as citizens of the country to 
which the courts belong. 

ARTICLE XII 

Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the exchange 
of ratifications of this treaty in the territories over which 
Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be deter- 
mined according to the following rules: 

(1) Judgments rendered either in civil suits between 
private individuals, or in criminal matters, before the date 
mentioned, and with respect to which there is no recourse 
or right of review under the Spanish law, shall be deemed to 

380 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

be final, and shall be executed in due form by competent 
authority in the territory within which such judgments 
should be carried out. 

(2) Civil suits between private individuals which may on 
the date mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted 
to judgment before the court in which they may then be 
pending or in the court that may be substituted therefor. 

(3) Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned 
before the Supreme Court of Spain against citizens of 
the territory which by this treaty ceases to.be Spanish shall 
continue under its jurisdiction until final judgment; but, 
such judgment having been rendered, the execution thereof 
shall be committed to the competent authority of the place 
in which the case arose. 

ARTICLE XIII 

The rights of property secured by copyrights and patents 
acquired by Spaniards in the Island of Cuba, and in Porto 
Rico, the Philippines and other ceded territories, at the time 
of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall 
continue to be respected. Spanish scientific, literary and 
artistic works, not subversive of public order in the terri- 
tories in question, shall continue to be admitted free of duty 
into such territories, for the period of ten years, to be 
reckoned from the date of the exchange of the ratifications 
of this treaty. 

ARTICLE XIV 

Spain shall have the power to establish consular officers 
in the ports and places of the territories, the sovereignty 
over which has been either relinquished or ceded by the 
present treaty. 

article xv 
The Government of each country will, for the term of ten 
years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country 

381 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the same treatment in respect of all port charges, including 
entrance and clearance dues, light dues, and tonnage duties, 
as it accords to its own merchant vessels, not engaged in the 
coastwise trade. 

This article may at any time be terminated on six months' 
notice given by either Government to the other. 

ARTICLE XVI 

It is understood that any obligations assumed in this 
treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited 
to the time of its occupancy thereof; but it will upon the 
termination of such occupancy, advise any Government 
established in the island to assume the same obligations. 

ARTICLE XVII 

The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of 
the United States, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty the Queen Regent 
of Spain ; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Wash- 
ington within six months from the date hereof, or earlier if 
possible. 

In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 

have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals. 

Done in duplicate at Paris, the tenth day of December, 

in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 

ninety-eight. 

[seal.] William R. Day 

[seal.] Cushman K. Davis 

[seal.] Wm. P. Frye 

[seal.] Geo. Grey 

[seal.] Whitelaw Reid 



382 



Reciprocal Commercial Convention between the 
United States and Cuba 1902 

The President of the United States of America and the 
President of the Republic of Cuba, animated by the desire 
to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two 
countries, and to facilitate their commercial intercourse by 
improving the conditions of trade between them, have re- 
solved to enter into a. convention for that purpose, and 
have appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries, to-wit: 

The President of the United States of America, the 
Honorable General Tasker H. Bliss; 

The President of the Republic of Cuba, the Honorable 
Carlos de Zaldo y Beurmann, Secretary of State and 
Justice, and the Honorable Jos6 M. Garcia y Montes, Sec- 
retary of the Treasury; 

Who, after an exchange of their full powers found to be 
in good and due form, have, in consideration of and in 
compensation for the respective concessions and engage- 
ments made by each to the other as hereinafter recited, 
agreed and do hereby agree upon the following Articles 
for the regulation and government of their reciprocal trade, 
namely : 

ARTICLE I 

During the term of this convention, all articles of 
merchandise being the product of the soil or industry of 
the United States which are now imported into the Re- 
public of Cuba free of duty, and all articles of merchandise 
being the product of the soil or industry of the Republic 
of Cuba which are now imported into the United States 

383 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

free of duty, shall continue to be so admitted by the re- 
spective countries free of duty. 



ARTICLE II 






During the term of this convention, all articles of mer- 
chandise not included in the foregoing Article I and being 
the product of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba 
imported into the United States shall be admitted at a 
reduction of twenty percentum of the rates of duty there- 
on as provided by the Tariff Act of the United States ap- 
proved July 24, 1897, or as may be provided by any tariff 
law of the United States subsequently enacted. 

ARTICLE III 

During the term of this convention, all articles of mer- 
chandise not included in the foregoing Article I and not 
hereinafter enumerated, being the product of the soil or 
industry of the United States, imported into the Republic 
of Cuba shall be admitted at a reduction of twenty per- 
centum of the rates of duty thereon as now provided or 
as may hereafter be provided in the Customs Tariff of said 
Republic of Cuba. 

ARTICLE IV 

During the term of this convention, the following articles 
of merchandise as enumerated and described in the existing 
Customs Tariff of the Republic of Cuba, being the product 
of the soil or industry of the United States imported into 
Cuba shall be admitted at the following respective reduc- 
tions of the rates of duty thereon as now provided or as 
may hereafter be provided in the Customs Tariff of the 
Republic of Cuba. 

384 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



SCHEDULE A 

To be admitted at a reduction of twenty-five (25) per- 
centum : 

Machinery and apparatus of copper or its alloys or ma- 
chines and apparatus in which copper or its alloys enter 
as the component of chief value; cast iron, wrought iron 
and steel, and manufactures thereof; articles of crystal 
and glass, except window glass; ships and water borne 
vessels of all kinds, of iron or steel ; whiskies and brandies ; 
fish, salted, pickled, smoked or marinated; fish or shellfish, 
preserved in oil or otherwise in tins; articles of pottery 
or earthenware now classified under Paragraphs 21 and 22 
of the Customs Tariff of the Republic of Cuba. 

SCHEDULE B 

To be admitted at a reduction of thirty (SO) percentum: 
Butter; flour of wheat; corn; flour of corn or corn meal; 
chemical and pharmaceutical products and simple drugs; 
malt liquors in bottles; non-alcoholic beverages; cider; min- 
eral waters; colors and dyes; window glass; complete or 
partly made up articles of hemp, flax, pita, jute, henequen, 
ramie, and other vegetable fibers now classified under the 
paragraphs of Group 2, Class V, of the Customs Tariff 
of the Republic of Cuba ; musical instruments ; writing and 
printing paper, except for newspapers; cotton and manu- 
factures thereof, except knitted goods (see Schedule C) ; 
all articles of cutlery; boots, shoes and slippers, now classi- 
fied under Paragraphs 197 and 198 of the Customs Tariff 
of the Republic of Cuba; gold and silver plated ware; 
drawings, photographs, engravings, lithographs, cromo- 
lithographs, oleographs, etc., printed from stone, zinc, alu- 

385 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

minium, or other material, used as labels, flaps, bands and 
wrappers for tobacco or other purposes, and all the other 
papers (except paper for cigarettes, and excepting maps 
and charts), pasteboard and manufactures thereof, now 
classified under Paragraphs 157 to 164 inclusive of the 
Customs Tariff of the Republic of Cuba; common or 
ordinary soaps, now classified under Paragraph 105, 
letters "A" and " B," of the Customs Tariff of the Re- 
public of Cuba; vegetables, pickled or preserved in any 
manner; all wines except those now classified under 
Paragraph 279 (a) of the Customs Tariff of the Republic 
of Cuba. 

SCHEDULE C 

To be admitted at a reduction of forty (40) percentum: 
Manufactures of cotton, knitted, and all manufactures 
of cotton not included in the preceding schedules; cheese; 
fruits, preserved; paper pulp; perfumery and essences; 
articles of pottery and earthenware now classified under 
Paragraph 20 of the Customs Tariff of the Republic of 
Cuba; porcelain; soaps, other than common, now classified 
under Paragraph 105 of the Customs Tariff of the Repub- 
lic of Cuba; umbrellas and parasols; dextrine and glucose; 
watches; wool and manufactures thereof; silk and manu- 
factures thereof; rice; cattle. 

article v 

It is understood and agreed that the laws and regula- 
tions adopted, or that may be adopted, by the United States 
and by the Republic of Cuba, to protect their revenues and 
prevent fraud in the declarations and proofs that the 
articles of merchandise to which this convention may apply 
are the product or manufacture of the United States and 

386 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the Republic of Cuba, respectively, shall not impose any 
additional charge or fees therefor on the articles imported, 
excepting the consular fees established, or which may be 
established, by either of the two countries for issuing ship- 
ping documents, which fees shall not be higher than those 
charged on the shipments of similar merchandise from any 
other nation whatsoever. 

ARTICLE VI 

It is agreed that the tobacco, in any form, of the United 
States or of any of its insular possessions, shall not enjoy 
the benefit of any concession or rebate of duty when im- 
ported into the Republic of Cuba. 

ARTICLE VII 

It is agreed that similar articles of both countries shall 
receive equal treatment on their importation into the ports 
of the United States and of the Republic of Cuba, re- 
spectively. 

ARTICLE VIII 

The rates of duty herein granted by the United States 
to the Republic of Cuba are and shall continue during the 
term of this convention preferential in respect to all like 
imports from other countries, and, in return for said 
preferential rates of duty granted to the Republic of Cuba 
by the United States, it is agreed that the concession 
herein granted on the part of the said Republic of Cuba 
to the products of the United States shall likewise be, and 
shall continue, during the term of this convention, prefer- 
ential in respect to all like imports from other countries: 
Provided, That while this convention is in force, no sugar 
imported from the Republic of Cuba, and being the product 

387 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

of the soil or industry of the Republic of Cuba, shall be 
admitted into the United States at a reduction of duty- 
greater than twenty percentum of the rates of duty thereon 
as provided by the tariff act of the United States approved 
July 24, 1897, and no sugar, the product of any other 
foreign country, shall be admitted by treaty or convention 
into the United States, while this convention is in force, 
at a lower rate of duty than that provided by the tariff 
act of the United States approved July 24, 1897. 

ARTICLE IX 

In order to maintain the mutual advantages granted in 
the present convention by the United States to the Re- 
public of Cuba and by the Republic of Cuba to the United 
States, it is understood and agreed that any tax or charge 
that may be imposed by the national or local authorities 
of either of the two countries upon the articles of mer- 
chandise embraced in the provisions of this convention, 
subsequent to importation and prior to their entering into 
consumption in the respective countries, shall be imposed 
and collected without discrimination upon like articles 
whencesoever imported. 

article x 

It is hereby understood and agreed that in case of 
changes in the tariff of either country which deprive the 
other of the advantage which is represented by the per- 
centages herein agreed upon, on the actual rates of the 
tariffs now in force, the country so deprived of this pro- 
tection reserves the right to terminate its obligations under 
this convention after six months' notice to the other of its 
intention to arrest the operations thereof. 

And it is further understood and agreed that if, at any 
time during the term of this convention, after the expira- 

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NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

tion of the first year, the protection herein granted to the 
products and manufactures of the United States on the basis 
of the actual rates of the tariff of the Republic of Cuba 
now in force, should appear to the government of the said 
Republic to be excessive in view of a new tariff law that 
may be adopted by it after this convention becomes opera- 
tive, then the said Republic of Cuba may reopen negotia- 
tions with a view to securing such modifications as may 
appear proper to both contracting parties. 

ARTICLE XI 

The present convention shall be ratified by the appro- 
priate authorities of the respective countries, and the rati- 
fications shall be exchanged at Washington, District of 
Columbia, United States of America, as soon as may be 
before the thirty-first day of January, 1903, and the con- 
vention shall go into effect on the tenth day after the 
exchange of ratifications, and shall continue in force for 
the terms of five (5) years from date of going into effect, 
and from year to year thereafter until the expiration of 
one year from the day when either of the contracting 
parties shall give notice to the other of its intention to 
terminate the same. 

This convention shall not take effect until the same shall 
have been approved by the Congress. 

In witness whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 
have signed the same in duplicate, in English and Spanish, 
and have affixed our respective seals, at Havana, Cuba, this 
eleventh day of December, in the year one thousand nine 
hundred and two. 

Tasker H. Bliss. [seal] 

Carlos de Zaldo. [seal] 

Jose M. Garcia Montes. [seal] 

389 



Supplementary Convention between the United 
States and Cuba 1903 

Extending the Time within which may be Exchanged the 
Ratifications of the Commercial Convention Signed on De- 
cember II, 1902. Signed at Washington, January 26, 1903. 
Ratification advised by the Senate, February 16, 1903. 
Ratified by the President, March 30, 1903. Ratified by 
Cuba, March 30, 1903. Ratifications exchanged at Wash- 
ington, March 31, 1903. Proclaimed, December 17, 1903. 

By the President of the United States of America. 

A PROCLAMATION 

Whereas a Supplementary Convention between the 
United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, ex- 
tending the time within which may be exchanged the ratifi- 
cations of the Commercial Convention signed at Habana, 
December 11, 1902, was concluded and signed by their 
respective Plenipotentiaries at Washington, on the twenty- 
sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and 
three, the original of which Supplementary Convention, 
being in the English and Spanish languages, is word for 
word as follows: 

The President of the United States of America and the 
President of the Republic of Cuba considering it expe- 
dient to prolong the period within which, by Article XI 
of the Commercial Convention, signed by their respective 
plenipotentiaries at Habana on December 11, 1902, the 
exchange of ratifications of the said Convention shall take 

390 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

place, have for that purpose appointed their respective 
Plenipotentiaries, namely : 

The President of the United States of America, John 
Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America; 
and 

The President of Cuba, Gonzalo de Quesada, Envoy Ex- 
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United 
States ; 

Who, after having communicated each to the other their 
respective full powers which were found to be in good and 
due form, have agreed upon the following additional and 
amendatory article to be taken as a part of said Conven- 
tion: 

SOLE ARTICLE 

The respective ratifications of the said Convention shall 
be exchanged as soon as possible, and within two months 
from January 31, 1903. 

Done in duplicate at Washington this twenty-sixth day 
of January A. D. 1903. 

John Hay. [seal] 

Gonzalo de Quesada. [seal] 

And whereas the said Supplementary Convention has 
been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of 
the two governments were exchanged in the City of Wash- 
ington, on the thirty-first day of March, one thousand nine 
hundred and three; 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, THEODORE 
ROOSEVELT, President of the United States of Amer- 
ica, have caused the said Supplementary Convention to be 
made public, to the end that the sole article thereof may 
be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United 
States and the citizens thereof. 

391 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States of America to be 
affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this seven- 

[seal] teenth day of December, in the year of our 

Lord one thousand nine hundred and three, and 

of the Independence of the United States the one hundred 

and twenty-eighth. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 
By the President: 
John Hay, 

Secretary of State. 



392 



Convention between the ZJnited States and the 
Republic of Panama 1904 

For the Construction of a Ship Canal to Connect the 
Waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Signed at 
Washington, November 18, 1903. Ratification advised by 
the Senate, February 23, 1904. Ratified by the President, 
February 25, 1904. Ratified by Panama, December 2, 
1903. Ratifications exchanged at Washington, February 
26, 1904. Proclaimed, February 26, 1904. 

By the President of the United States of America. 

A PROCLAMATION 

Whereas a Convention between the United States of 
America and the Republic of Panama to insure the con- 
struction of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama 
to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was concluded 
and signed by their respective Plenipotentiaries at Wash- 
ington, on the eighteenth day of November, one thousand 
nine hundred and three, the original of which Convention, 
being in the English language, is word for word as follows : 

ISTHMIAN CANAL CONVENTION 

The United States of America and the Republic of 
Panama being desirous to insure the construction of a ship 
canal across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans, and the Congress of the United States 
of America having passed an act approved June 28, 1902, 
in furtherance of that object, by which the President of 
the United States is authorized to acquire within a reason- 

393 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

able time the control of the necessary territory of the 
Republic of Colombia, and the sovereignty of such terri- 
tory being actually vested in the Republic of Panama, 
the high contracting parties have resolved for that purpose 
to conclude a convention and have accordingly appointed 
as their plenipotentiaries, — 

The President of the United States of America, John 
Hay, Secretary of State, and 

The Government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe 
Bunau-Varilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of the Republic of Panama, thereunto specially 
empowered by said government, who after communicating 
with each other their respective full powers, found to be 
in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded 
the following articles: 

ARTICLE I 

The United States guarantees and will maintain the in- 
dependence of the Republic of Panama. 



ARTICLE II 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States 
in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of a zone of 
land and land under water for the construction, main- 
tenance, operation, sanitation and protection of said Canal 
of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five 
miles on each side of the center line of the route of the 
Canal to be constructed; the said zone beginning in the 
Caribbean Sea three marine miles from mean low water 
mark and extending to and across the Isthmus of Panama 
into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles 
from mean low water mark with the proviso that the cities 
of Panama and Colon and the harbors adjacent to said 

39* 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

cities, which are included within the boundaries of the 
zone above described, shall not be included within this 
grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the 
United States in perpetuity the use, occupation and con- 
trol of any other lands and waters outside of the zone 
above described which may be necessary and convenient 
for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation 
and protection of the said Canal or of any auxiliary canals 
or other works necessary and convenient for the construc- 
tion, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of 
the said enterprise. 

The Republic of Panama further grants in like manner 
to the United States in perpetuity all islands within the 
limits of the zone above described and in addition thereto 
the group of small islands in the Bay of Panama, named 
Perico, Naos, Culebra and Flamenco. 

ARTICLE III 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States 
all the rights, power and authority within the zone men- 
tioned and described in Article II of this agreement and 
within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters men- 
tioned and described in said Article II which the United 
States would possess and exercise if it were the sovereign 
of the territory within which said lands and waters are 
located to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Re- 
public of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power 
or authority. 

ARTICLE IV 

As rights subsidiary to the above grants the Republic 
of Panama grants in perpetuity to the United States the 
right to use the rivers, streams, lakes and other bodies of 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

water within its limits for navigation, the supply of water 
or water-power or other purposes, so far as the use of 
said rivers, streams, lakes and bodies of water and the 
waters thereof may be necessary and convenient for the 
construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and pro- 
tection of the said Canal. 



article v 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States 
in perpetuity a monopoly for the construction, maintenance 
and operation of any system of communication by means 
of canal or railroad across its territory between the Carib- 
bean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. 



ARTICLE VI 

The grants herein contained shall in no manner invali- 
date the titles or rights of private land holders or owners of 
private property in the said zone or in or to any of the 
lands or waters granted to the United States by the pro- 
visions of any Article of this treaty, nor shall they inter- 
fere with the rights of way over the public roads passing 
through the said zone or over any of the said lands or 
waters unless said rights of way or private rights shall 
conflict with rights herein granted to the United States in 
which case the rights of the United States shall be superior. 
All damages caused to the owners of private lands or pri- 
vate property of any kind by reason of the grants contained 
in this treaty or by reason of the operations of the United 
States, its agents or employees, or by reason of the con- 
struction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection 
of the said Canal or of the works of sanitation and pro- 

396 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

tection herein provided for, shall be appraised and settled 
by a joint Commission appointed by the Governments of 
the United States and the Republic of Panama, whose de- 
cisions as to such damages shall be final and whose awards 
as to such damages shall be paid solely by the United 
States. No part of the work on said Canal or the Panama 
railroad or on any auxiliary works relating thereto and 
authorized by the terms of this treaty shall be prevented, 
delayed or impeded by or pending such proceedings to 
ascertain such damages. The appraisal of said private 
lands and private property and the assessment of damages 
to them shall be based upon their value before the date of 
this convention. 



ARTICLE VII 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States 
within the limits of the cities of Panama and Colon and 
their adjacent harbors and within the territory adjacent 
thereto the right to acquire by purchase or by the exercise 
of the right of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water 
rights or other properties necessary and convenient for the 
construction, maintenance, operation and protection of the 
Canal and of any works of sanitation, such as the collection 
and disposition of sewage and the distribution of water 
in the said cities of Panama and Colon, which, in the discre- 
tion of the United States may be necessary and convenient 
for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation 
and protection of the said Canal and railroad. All such 
works of sanitation, collection and disposition of sewage 
and distribution of water in the cities of Panama and 
Colon shall be made at the expense of the United States, 
and the Government of the United States, its agents or 
nominees shall be authorized to impose and collect water 

397 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

rates and sewage rates which shall be sufficient to provide 
for the payment of interest and the amortization of the 
principal of the cost of said works within a period of fifty 
years and upon the expiration of said term of fifty years 
the system of sewers and water works shall revert to and 
become the properties of the cities of Panama and Colon 
respectively, and the use of the water shall be free to the 
inhabitants of Panama and Colon, except to the extent 
that water rates may be necessary for the operation and 
maintenance of said system of sewers and water. 

The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities of 
Panama and Colon shall comply in perpetuity with the 
sanitary ordinances whether of a preventive or curative 
character prescribed by the United States and in case the 
Government of Panama is unable or fails in its duty to 
enforce this compliance by the cities of Panama and Colon 
with the sanitary ordinances of the United States the Re- 
public of Panama grants to the United States the right 
and authority to enforce the same. 

The same right and authority are granted to the United 
States for the maintenance of public order in the cities of 
Panama and Colon and the territories and harbors adjacent 
thereto in case the Republic of Panama should not be, in 
the judgment of the United States, able to maintain such 
order. 

ARTICLE VIII 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all 
rights which it now has or hereafter may acquire to the 
property of the New Panama Canal Company and the 
Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of 
sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic 
of Panama over the Isthmus of Panama and authorizes 
the New Panama Canal Company to sell and transfer to 

398 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

the United States its rights, privileges, properties and con- 
cessions as well as the Panama Railroad and all the shares 
or part of the shares of that company; but the public lands 
situated outside of the zone described in Article II of this 
treaty now included in the concessions to both said enter- 
prises and not required in the construction or operation 
of the Canal shall revert to the Republic of Panama ex- 
cept any property now owned by or in the possession of 
said companies within Panama or Colon or the ports or 
terminals thereof. 

ARTICLE IX 

The United States agrees that the ports at either en- 
trance of the Canal and the waters thereof, and the Re- 
public of Panama agrees that the towns of Panama and 
Colon shall be free for all time so that there shall not be 
imposed or collected custom house tolls, tonnage, anchor- 
age, lighthouse, wharf, pilot, or quarantine dues or any 
other charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using 
or passing through the Canal or belonging to or employed 
by the United States, directly or indirectly, in connection 
with the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation 
and protection of the main Canal, or auxiliary works, or 
upon the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such 
vessels, except such tolls and charges as may be imposed 
by the United States for the use of the Canal and other 
works, and except tolls and charges imposed by the Re- 
public of Panama upon merchandise destined to be intro- 
duced for the consumption of the rest of the Republic of 
Panama, and upon vessels touching at the ports of Colon 
and Panama and which do not cross the Canal. 

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have 
the right to establish in such ports and in the towns of 
Panama and Colon such houses and guards as it may deem 

399 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

necessary to collect duties on importations destined to 
other portions of Panama and to prevent contraband trade. 
The United States shall have the right to make use of the 
towns and harbors of Panama and Colon as places of an- 
chorage, and for making repairs, for loading, unloading, 
depositing, or transshipping cargoes either in transit or 
destined for the service of the Canal and for other works 
pertaining to the Canal. 



article x 

The Republic of Panama agrees that there shall not be 
imposed any taxes, national, municipal, departmental, or 
of any other class, upon the Canal, the railways and aux- 
iliary works, tugs and other vessels employed in the service 
of the Canal, store houses, work shops, offices, quarters for 
laborers, factories of all kinds, warehouses, wharves, ma- 
chinery and other works, property, and effects appertaining 
to the Canal or railroad and auxiliary works, or their 
officers or employees, situated within the cities of Panama 
and Colon, and that there shall not be imposed contribu- 
tions or charges of a personal character of any kind upon 
officers, employees, laborers, and other individuals in the 
service of the Canal and railroad and auxiliary works. 



ARTICLE XI 

The United States agrees that the official dispatches of 
the Government of the Republic of Panama shall be 
transmitted over any telegraph and telephone lines estab- 
lished for canal purposes and used for public and private 
business at rates not higher than those required from 
officials in the service of the United States. 

400 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XII 

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall per- 
mit the immigration and free access to the lands and work- 
shops of the Canal and its auxiliary works of all employees 
and workmen of whatever nationality under contract to 
work upon or seeking employment upon or in any wise 
connected with the said Canal and its auxiliary works, with 
their respective families, and all such persons shall be 
free and exempt from the military service of the Republic 
of Panama. 

ARTICLE XIII 

The United States may import at any time into the said 
zone and auxiliary lands, free of custom duties, imposts, 
taxes, or other charges, and without any restrictions, any 
and all vessels, dredges, engines, cars, machinery, tools, 
explosives, materials, supplies, and other articles necessary 
and convenient in the construction, maintenance, operation, 
sanitation and protection of the Canal and auxiliary 
works, and all provisions, medicines, clothing, supplies and 
other things necessary and convenient for the officers, em- 
ployees, workmen and laborers in' the service and employ 
of the United States and for their families. If any such 
articles are disposed of for use outside of the zone and 
auxiliary lands granted to the United States and within 
the territory of the Republic, they shall be subject to the 
same import or other duties as like articles imported under 
the laws of the Republic of Panama. 

ARTICLE XIV 

As the price or compensation for the rights, powers and 
privileges granted in this convention by the Republic of 

401 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



. 



Panama to the United States, the Government of the 
United States agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama 
the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in gold coin 
of the United States on the exchange of the ratification of 
this convention and also an annual payment during the life 
of this convention of two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars ($250,000) in like gold coin, beginning nine years 
after the date aforesaid. 

The provisions of this Article shall be in addition to all 
other benefits assured to the Republic of Panama under 
this convention. 

But no delay or difference of opinion under this Article 
or any other provisions of this treaty shall affect or inter- 
rupt the full operation and effect of this convention in all 
other respects. 

ARTICLE XV 

The joint commission referred to in Article VI shall be 
established as follows: 

The President of the United States shall nominate two 
persons and the President of the Republic of Panama shall 
nominate two persons and they shall proceed to a decision; 
but in case of disagreement of the Commission (by reason 
of their being equally divided in conclusion) an umpire 
shall be appointed by the two Governments who shall 
render the decision. In the event of the death, absence, 
or incapacity of a Commissioner or Umpire, or of his 
omitting, declining or ceasing to act, his place shall be 
filled by the appointment of another person in the manner 
above indicated. All decisions by a majority of the Com- 
mission or by the umpire shall be final. 



402 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XVI 

The two Governments shall make adequate provision by 
future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, 
detention and delivery within said zone and auxiliary lands 
to the authorities of the Republic of Panama of persons 
charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies or mis- 
demeanors without said zone and for the pursuit, capture, 
imprisonment, detention and delivery without said zone to 
the authorities of the United States of persons charged 
with the commitment of crimes, felonies and misdemeanors 
within said zone and auxiliary lands. 

ARTICLE XVII 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States 
the use of all the ports of the Republic open to commerce 
as places of refuge for any vessels employed in the Canal 
enterprise, and for all vessels passing or bound to pass 
through the Canal which may be in distress and be driven 
to seek refuge in said ports. Such vessels shall be exempt 
from anchorage and tonnage dues on the part of the Re- 
public of Panama. 

ARTICLE XVIII 

The Canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto 
shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon 
the terms provided for by Section I of Article three of, 
and in conformity with all the stipulations of, the treaty 
entered into by the Governments of the United States and 
Great Britain on November 18, 1901. 



403 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XIX 

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have 
the right to transport over the Canal its vessels and its 
troops and munitions of war in such vessels at all times 
without paying charges of any kind. The exemption is 
to be extended to the auxiliary railway for the transpor- 
tation of persons in the service of the Republic of Panama, 
or of the police force charged with the preservation of 
public order outside of said zone, as well as to their bag- 
gage, munitions of war and supplies. 

ARTICLE XX 

If by virtue of any existing treaty in relation to the 
territory of the Isthmus of Panama, whereof the obliga- 
tions shall descend or be assumed by the Republic of 
Panama, there may be any privilege or concession in favor 
of the Government or the citizens and subjects of a third 
power relative to an interoceanic means of communication 
which in any of its terms may be incompatible with the terms 
of the present convention, the Republic of Panama agrees 
to cancel or modify such treaty in due form, for which 
purpose it shall give to the said third power the requisite 
notification within the term of four months from the date 
of the present convention, and in case the existing treaty 
contains no clause permitting its modifications or annul- 
ment, the Republic of Panama agrees to procure its modi- 
fication or annulment in such form that there shall not exist 
any conflict with the stipulations of the present convention. 



404 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



ARTICLE XXI 

The rights and privileges granted by the Republic of 
Panama to the United States in the preceding Articles are 
understood to be free of all anterior debts, liens, trusts, or 
liabilities, or concessions or privileges to other Govern- 
ments, corporations, syndicates or individuals, and conse- 
quently, if there should arise any claims on account of 
the present concessions and privileges or otherwise, the 
claimants shall resort to the Government of the Republic 
of Panama and not to the United States for any indemnity 
or compromise which may be required. 

ARTICLE XXII 

The Republic of Panama renounces and grants to the 
United States the participation to which it might be en- 
titled in the future earnings of the Canal under Article XV 
of the concessionary contract with Lucien N. B. Wyse now 
owned by the New Panama Canal Company and any and 
all other rights or claims of a pecuniary nature arising 
under or relating to said concession, or arising under or 
relating to the concessions to the Panama Railroad Com- 
pany or any extension or modification thereof; and it like- 
wise renounces, confirms and grants to the United States, 
now and hereafter, all the rights and property reserved 
in the said concessions which otherwise would belong to 
Panama at or before the expiration of the terms of ninety- 
nine years of the concessions granted to or held by the 
above mentioned party and companies, and all right, title 
and interest which it now has or may hereafter have, in 
and to the lands, canal, works, property and rights held 
by the said companies under said concessions or otherwise, 

405 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

and acquired or to be acquired by the United States from 
or through the New Panama Canal Company, including 
any property and rights which might or may in the future 
either by lapse of time, forfeiture or otherwise, revert to 
the Republic of Panama under any contracts or conces- 
sions, with said Wyse, the Universal Panama Canal Com- 
pany, the Panama Railroad Company and the New Panama 
Canal Company. 

The aforesaid rights and property shall be and are 
free and released from any present or reversionary interest 
in or claims of Panama and the title of the United States 
thereto upon consummation of the contemplated purchase 
by the United States from the New Panama Canal Com- 
pany, shall be absolute, so far as concerns the Republic of 
Panama, excepting always the rights of the Republic 
specifically secured under this treaty. 



ARTICLE XXIII 

If it should become necessary at any time to employ 
armed forces for the safety or protection of the Canal, or 
of the ships that make use of the same, or the railways 
and auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, 
at all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its 
land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for these 
purposes. 

ARTICLE XXIV 

No change either in the Government or in the laws and 
treaties of the Republic of Panama shall, without the con- 
sent of the United States, affect any right of the United 
States under the present convention, or under any treaty 
stipulation between the two countries that now exists or 

406 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 

may hereafter exist touching the subject matter of this 
convention. 

If the Republic of Panama shall hereafter enter as a 
constituent into any other Government or into any union 
or confederation of states, so as to merge her sovereignty 
or independence in such Government, union or confedera- 
tion, the rights of the United States under this convention 
shall not be in any respect lessened or impaired. 



ARTICLE XXV 

For the better performance of the engagements of this 
convention and to the end of the efficient protection of the 
Canal and the preservation of its neutrality, the Govern- 
ment of the Republic of Panama will sell or lease to the 
United States lands adequate and necessary for naval or 
coaling stations on the Pacific coast and on the western 
Caribbean coast of the Republic at certain points to be 
agreed upon with the President of the United States. 



ARTICLE XXVI 

This convention when signed by the Plenipotentiaries of 
the Contracting Parties shall be ratified by the respective 
Governments and the ratifications shall be exchanged at 
Washington at the earliest date possible. 

In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have 
signed the present convention in duplicate and have here- 
unto affixed their respective seals. 

Done at the City of Washington the 18th day of Novem- 
ber in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and three. 

John Hay. [seal] 

P. Bunau Varilla. [seal] 

407 



NATIONAL DOCUMENTS 



.. 



And whereas the said Convention has been duly ratified 
on both parts, and the ratifications of the two governments 
were exchanged in the City of Washington, on the twenty- 
sixth day of February, one thousand nine hundred and 
four; 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Theodore Roosevelt, 
President of the United States of America, have caused 
the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the 
same and every article and clause thereof, may be observed 
and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the 
citizens thereof. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States of America to be 
affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-sixth day 
of February, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
[seal] sand nine hundred and four, and of the Inde- 
pendence of the United States the one hundred 
and twenty-eighth. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 
By the President: 
John Hay, 

Secretary of State. 



408 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

First Charter of Virginia 1606 

[Text derived from Smith's History of Virginia.] 

The first English colony in America was planted by Sir 
Walter Raleigh in 1584 under a grant from Queen Eliza- 
beth. After several ventures which came to nothing he gave 
up his hope of colonizing America. England was occupied 
with her war with Spain and for a time Virginia, which was 
the name given to the country at large, was forgotten. 
After the close of the war the interest in Virginia was 
renewed by the reports of some returned explorers and 
some enterprising gentlemen petitioned King James for a 
charter enabling them to plant colonies in the new world. 
This charter which is a typical one, was granted 10 April 
1606 to an association having two branches, one having its 
headquarters in London and the other being established 
at Plymouth. 

AUTHORITIES 

Old Virginia and her Neighbors. Vol. I. John Fiske. 

Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas. J. A. Doyle. 

A Short History of the English Colonies in America. 

Henry Cabot Lodge. 
The Making of Virginia and the Middle Colonies. S. A. 

Drake. 

The Mayflower Compact 1620 

[Text derived from Bradford's History "Of Plimoth 
Plantation." Edition of 1899- From the original. The 
spelling is slightly modernized.] 

409 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

This compact was made in the cabin of the Mayflower 
21 November (11 November old style) 1620. The vessel 
had dropped anchor in Cape Cod harbor at noon and the 
Pilgrims were about to land and settle in the neighborhood. 
They carried with them a grant or patent from the London 
branch of the Virginia company but owing to foul weather 
instead of making the Virginia coast they had been driven 
to Cape Cod bay. All this northern coast belonged to the 
Plymouth company but the Pilgrims anticipated no trouble 
in securing a charter from that body. In the mean time 
there would be no recognized authority in the land where 
they were about to settle for the London company had no 
jurisdiction over New England. There was reason to fear 
that there were lawless spirits among the hired laborers 
on shipboard. Bradford says in his History of New Eng- 
land that some of them " had let fall . . . that when they 
came ashore they would use their own liberty, for none had 
power to command them." " It was thought good/' says 
Mourt's Relation, " that there should be an association or 
agreement that we should combine together in one body; 
to submit to such government and Governors as we should, 
by common consent, agree to make or choose." The com- 
pact was signed by 41 of the 65 adult male passengers of 
the Mayflower, seven of the signers being servants or hired 
laborers. 

18 Northern parts of Virginia. The Pilgrims used the 
old name for New England. It was called North Virginia 
till Captain John Smith in 1614 proposed the name New 
England. 

AUTHORITIES 

New England's Memorial. Nathaniel Morton. 
History of New England. Vol. I. John Gorham Palfrey. 
The Pilgrim Fathers of New England. John Brown. 

410 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Articles of Confederation of the New England 
Colonies 1643 

[Text derived from Bradford's History " Of Plimoth 
Plantation." Edition of 1899- From the original. The 
spelling is modernized.] 

A confederation of the New England colonies was first 
proposed in 1637. The matter was discussed from time 
to time but it was not till 1643 that commissioners from 
Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Massachusetts 
met at Boston to form a union. " These coming to a con- 
sultation, encountered some difficulties; but being all de- 
sirous of union and studious of peace, they readily yielded 
to each other in such things as tended to common utility, 
so as in some two or three meetings they lovingly accorded," 
wrote John Winthrop. 

The articles were signed 10 May by all the commis- 
sioners except those from Plymouth, who had not been 
authorized to sign but they were soon ratified by the govern- 
ment of that colony. In 1662 a charter was granted Con- 
necticut. New Haven was annexed to that colony and 
the articles were revised in accordance with this change. 
The confederation came to an end when the charter of Mas- 
sachusetts was revoked in 1684. 

19 Further dispersed. The dispersion of the colonists 
was partly due to differences of opinion on theology and 
on questions touching the relations of church and state. 
Thomas Hooker, a pastor of the church at Newtown, Mas- 
sachusetts, and his congregation of over a hundred migrated 
to the Connecticut valley because unlike the majority of the 
ministers he was opposed to a measure intended to increase 
the political weight of the clergy and maintained that the 

411 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the 
people. 

19 People of several nations. The French were upon 
the eastern border, the Dutch upon the western, and the 
Swedes upon Delaware bay. 

19 Combined . . . against us. " By reason of the plot- 
ting of the Narragansetts . . . the Indians were drawn 
into a general conspiracy against the English/' wrote Brad- 
ford. 

19 Sad distractions in England. War had begun be- 
tween King Charles and parliament. If the Puritan cause 
should fail in England there was all the more need that 
New England should be a safe refuge for exiles. 

19 Hindered . . . seeking advice. The colonists found 
it necessary to send some one to London to explain and 
defend the action of the colonies and Edward Winslow was 
chosen. He said to the king, " If we in America should 
forbear to unite for offence and defence against a common 
enemy till we have leave from England, our throats might 
all be cut before the messenger would be half seas through." 

20 The Massachusetts. Massachusetts was incorpo- 
rated under the name of " The Governor and Company of 
the Massachusetts Bay in New England." 

20 Member of this confederation. Rhode Island asked 
to join the federation but was refused on the ground that 
she had no separate government. She was offered annexa- 
tion to Massachusetts or Plymouth. 

21 A true account and number. The population of the 
colonies was 24,000; 15,000 belonged to Massachusetts 
while the other colonies had only about 3,000 each. There 
were 39 towns. 

21 An hundred men. Massachusetts had hesitated about 
joining a confederation in which she would have no more 
power than the smaller and less populous states and yet 

412 






NOTES ON THE TEXT 

would be obliged to bear more than an equal share of ex- 
pense for the common safety. 

AUTHORITIES 

New England's Memorial. Nathaniel Morton. 

History of New England. Vols. I and II. John Gorham 

Palfrey. 
Beginnings of New England. John Fiske. 
The Pilgrim Fathers of New England. John Brown. 
The Puritan Colonies. Vol. I. J. A. Doyle. 
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard 

Frothingham. 

A Typical Early Indian Treaty 1645 

[Text derived from Historical Collection Consisting of 
State Papers. By Ebenezer Hazard, 1792-94.] 

The Narragansett and Mohegan Indians were the most 
powerful tribes in southern New England and they were 
constantly on the verge of war. In 1640 the colonists 
undertook to arbitrate and the tribes agreed not to make war 
upon each other without the consent of the English. The 
Narragansetts broke the agreement, attacked the Mohegans 
and were defeated. Uncas, the Mohegan chief, took Mian- 
tonomo, the Narragansett chief, prisoner, and after 
consulting with the colonists put him to death. The Narra- 
gansetts claimed that a ransom had been paid for Mianto- 
nomo ; the Mohegans denied it. Again the English arbitrated 
and in September 1644 a truce was made, the Narra- 
gansetts and their allies, the Nyanticks, promising not to 
commit any acts hostile to Uncas " till after the next plant- 
ing of corn " and that before making war on the Mohegans 
they would give thirty days' warning to the English. In 

413 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

the following spring the Narragansetts again attacked the 
Mohegans. The Federal commissioners sent for the Narra- 
gansett and Nyantick chiefs to come "to declare and prove 
upon what occasions and grounds this war was thus broken 
out " and to be prepared to treat for peace. Instead of 
sending their chiefs the Narragansetts sent their defiance. 
The colonists at once prepared for war when the chiefs 
reconsidered the matter and presented themselves at Bos- 
ton where a treaty was concluded 26 September 1645. 

31 Peacotts. Pequots. In May 1637 a force of 77 
colonists surprised the Pequot Indians and nearly annihi- 
lated them. The few who survived were divided among the 
Narragansetts and Nyanticks and adopted by them. 

33 Any parcel of land. The Narragansetts had sold a 
tract of land to the king of England through one 
Samuel Gorton who with some of his followers had been 
banished from the colonies for heresy. 

AUTHORITIES 

The History of New England. Vol. II. John Gorham 

Palfrey. 
Bradford's History " Of Plimoth Plantation." 
Historical Collection Consisting of State Papers. Com- 
piled by Ebenezer Hazard. 

Declaration of Rights 1765 

[Text derived from Journal of the First Congress of 
the American Colonies. Edition of 1845.] 

In March 1765 the British parliament passed an act 
called the Stamp Act which provided that no legal instru- 
ment used in the American colonies should be valid unless 
it bore a government stamp. The measure aroused intense 

414 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

indignation throughout the colonies. All the assemblies 
protested and there was a demand for a general congress 
to be held before the Stamp Act should go into effect. 
Delegates from nine colonies met in New York 7 October 
and continued in session fourteen days. The result was a 
declaration of rights which stated the right of the colonies 
to govern themselves as loyal subjects of the king but not 
under control of parliament. The declaration was adopted 
by congress 19 October and was sent to the king. In the 
following March the Stamp Act was repealed after one of 
the hottest debates that ever took place in the house of 
commons. The breach between the colonies and the mother 
country was healed for the present. There was an outburst 
of loyalty toward the king and nearly all the colonial as- 
semblies voted an address of thanks to him. At the same 
time that the Stamp Act was repealed a Declaratory Act 
was passed which stated the right of the king " by and 
with the advice and consent " of parliament to make laws 
binding the colonies " in all cases whatsoever." In their 
joy at the repeal of the Stamp Act the Americans seem 
to have paid little heed to this measure which was largely 
responsible for their subsequent trouble. 

34 This Congress. This is known as the Stamp Act 
congress. 

35 Trial by jury. In order to put a stop to smuggling, 
admiralty courts created by parliament were to deal with 
all cases of violation of tariff laws without a trial by jury. 
The jurisdiction of these courts was gradually extended 
to other cases, thus robbing the colonists of one of the 
oldest rights of Englishmen. 

35 Duties imposed. The Sugar Act was passed 5 April 
1764. This imposed fresh and heavier taxes on sugar, 
wines, coffee and all goods brought from France and the 
East Indies. 

415 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



t the. 



35 Restrictions . . . on the trade. In March 1764 the 
old Navigation Acts or tariff laws of the seventeenth cen- 
tury were amended and extended. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard 

Frothingham. 
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky. 
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske. 
A Short History of the English Colonies in America. 

Henry Cabot Lodge. 
History of New England. Vol. V. John Gorham Palfrey. 

Declaration and Resolves of the First 
Continental Congress 1774 

[Text derived from Journals of the American Congress 
from 1774 to 1778. Vol. I. Edition of 1823.] 

After the passage of the Boston Port Bill several of the 
Massachusetts towns sent a circular letter to the various 
colonies asking their sympathy and support. Some con- 
certed action on the part of the colonies was seen to be 
necessary and calls for a continental congress came from 
New York and Virginia. Massachusetts was asked to ap- 
point the date and place for the meeting of such a congress 
and her assembly on 17 June 1774 passed a resolve to send 
five delegates to meet delegates from the other colonies at 
Philadelphia on the first of the following September " to 
deliberate upon wise and proper measures to be by them 
recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery and estab- 
lishment of their just rights and liberties, civil and relig- 

416 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

ious, and the restoration of union and harmony between 
Great Britain and the colonies." 

The congress met 5 September and on 14 October after a 
session of five weeks agreed upon a declaration of rights. 
Four other papers were drawn up by this body — an address 
to the people of Great Britain, a memorial to the inhabit- 
ants of British America, an address to the king, and a non- 
importation and non-exportation association. 

Of these documents the Earl of Chatham said in the 
house of lords, " When your lordships look at these papers 
transmitted us from America, when you consider their 
decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their 
cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must 
own that in all my reading — and I have read Thucydides, 
and have studied and admired the master states of the world 
— for solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of 
conclusion under a complication of difficult circumstances, no 
body of men can stand in preference to the general con- 
gress at Philadelphia. The histories of Greece and Rome 
can give us nothing equal to it, and all attempts to impose 
servitude upon such a mighty race must be in vain. We 
shall be forced ultimately to retract ; let us retract when we 
can, not when we must." 

37 The last war. The war between Great Britain and 
France terminated by the treaty of Paris, 1763. At first 
the congress intended to state the rights of the colonies 
in general with all the violations of such rights but it was 
decided to confine themselves " at present, to the consider- 
ation of such rights as have been infringed by acts of the 
British Parliament since 1763." 

37 Imposed rates and duties. Since the Declaration of 
Rights of 1765 fresh taxes had been imposed. On 29 June 
1767 a bill was passed laying duties on glass, lead, paper, 
painters' colors and tea. By an act of 2 July 1767 the tax 

417 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

on tea was lowered so that it was cheaper for the colonists 
to buy it from England than to smuggle it from Holland. 
But the Americans stood out for the principle involved. A 
tax was a tax, no matter how small. On the other hand, 
though the revenue derived from the tea tax would be a mere 
trifle, Great Britain refused to remove it. She too was 
fighting for a principle. " To reduce the tea tax would 
stamp us with timidity," said the prime minister. 

37 Board of commissioners. " An act to enable His 
Majesty to put the customs, and other duties, in the British 
dominions in America, and the execution of the laws relat- 
ing to trade there, under the management of commissioners 
to be appointed for that purpose, and to be resident in the 
said dominions " was passed 29 June 1767- Formerly many 
of the commissioners lived in England and were under the 
authority of the high treasurer or of commissioners of the 
treasury. Now the resident commissioners were to have 
the same " powers and authorities " as formerly had been 
exercised by the commissioners of customs in England, " to 
the better securing of said rates and duties by the more 
speedy and effectual collection thereof." 

37 Dependent on the crown. In 1772 an act was passed 
providing for the payment of the salaries of the Massa- 
chusetts judges by the crown. The Massachusetts assem- 
bly threatened to impeach the judges if they accepted 
salaries from the king. Since the judges were no longer 
dependent on the colonies for their salaries their tyranny 
was not likely to be checked for politic reasons as 
heretofore. 

37 Standing armies. After the close of the French and 
Indian war Great Britain left a number of troops in Amer- 
ica and compelled the colonists to contribute to their sup- 
port. 

37 Statute . . . Henry the Eighth. " This raking-up 

418 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

of an obsolete statute, enacted at one of the worst periods 
of English history and before England had any colonies 
at all was extremely injudicious," says John Fiske. 

37 An act to discontinue . . . Boston. This was the 
Boston Port Act of 31 March 1774. 

37 An act . . . for . . . Massachusetts-Bay. This 
measure, known as the Regulating Act, was passed 20 May 
1774. " The act to alter the charter of Massachusetts," 
says H. C. Lodge, " firmly united the American colonies 
and divided the empire of England." 

38 An act for . . . administration of justice. This 
act provided that if any British officer or soldier in Massa- 
chusetts should be indicted for murder or other capital 
offence he should be tried in England. 

38 Government . . . of Quebec. This refers to the 
Quebec Act of 1774. This measure " dealt with the recent 
conquests of England, gave toleration to the Roman Cath- 
olics, erected an arbitrary government, and extended the 
bounds of the new province to the Ohio, absorbing the terri- 
tory of the old colonies, and threatening the possessions of 
Virginia and Pennsylvania," comments H. C. Lodge. 

38 Assemblies . . . dissolved. The assembly of New 
York was dissolved in 1767 because it refused to comply 
with the Quartering Act. The Massachusetts assembly was 
dissolved in 1768 and the Virginia house of burgesses in 
1769. Other representative bodies were dissolved from 
time to time. 

40 Right peaceably to assemble. By the Regulation 
Act the right of public meeting was practically denied. 
Only election meetings could be called by the selectmen 
without the consent of the governor in writing " express- 
ing the special business of the said meeting." 

40 Council appointed . . . by the Crown. The same 
act provided for the appointment of the council or upper 

419 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

chamber of Massachusetts by the crown as already was the 
case in some of the other American colonies. 

41 Judges' certificate. The Administration of Justice 
Act provided that a British officer or soldier indicted for 
a crime in Massachusetts might have the attendance at his 
triaj of any witness he chose, the witness to receive his 
expenses and a certificate from the governor that he had 
" entered into a recognizance to give evidence." 

42 Providing suitable quarters. This refers to the 
Quartering Act of 2 June 1774. The Quartering Act of 
April 1765 obliged the colonists to provide the soldiers with 
lodgings, fuel, bedding, drink, soap and candles. 

42 Non-importation . . . association. This measure 
was felt in England. The exports to the colonies in 1768 
amounted to 2,378,000 1; in 1769 they fell to 1,634,000 1. 



AUTHORITIES 

American Archives. Fourth Series. Vol. I. Compiled by 

Peter Force. 
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard 

Frothingham. 
The American Revolution. Vol. I. Sir George Otto 

Trevelyan. 
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky. 
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske. 
A Brief History of the English Colonies in America. 



Henry Cabot Lodge. 



420 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of 
Taking up Arms 1775 

[Text derived from Journals of the American Congress 
from 1774 to 1778. Vol. I. Edition of 1823.] 

The second continental congress met at Philadelphia 10 
May 1775. Since its last session war with England had 
begun. The battles of Lexington and Concord had been 
fought^ the provincial congress of Massachusetts had raised 
an army and Boston was virtually in a state of siege. The 
congress still declared itself for peace but it made prepara- 
tions for war. On 15 June it passed a resolution offered 
by John Adams that the army at Boston be adopted and 
George Washington be appointed commander. Orders were 
issued for the enlistment and provisioning of troops and 
the erection of forts. In order to defray expenses notes to 
the value of $3,000,000 were to be issued in the name of the 
United Colonies. A committee was appointed 23 June to 
draw up "a declaration setting forth the causes and ne- 
cessity of taking up arms." The committee reported 27 June 
and on 6 July congress voted the adoption of the declara- 
tion. A second petition to the king was adopted 8 July. 

44 The minister . . . publicly declared. This minister 
was William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham. He and 
the Duke of Newcastle shared the duties of prime minister, 
Newcastle being the nominal and Pitt the real head of the 
government. 

44 Change in his counsels. Pitt resigned in October 
1761, leaving the Duke of Newcastle at the head of affairs. 
He was succeeded in May 1762 by Lord Bute. 

45 The late king. George III came to the throne in 
1760. George II, his predecessor, had been but a nominal 

421 






NOTES ON THE TEXT 

king; Sir Robert Walpole, the prime minister, had been 
the real head of affairs. When a plan for taxing the col- 
onies was suggested to him he replied, " What ! I have half 
Old England set against me already, and do you think I 
will have all New England likewise? " 

46 Break off . . . intercourse. This reference is to 
the non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation 
association of 1774. 

47 Commercial intercourse . . . sustenance. "An act 
to restrain the trade and commerce of the provinces of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and colonies of Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in 
North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British 
islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit such provinces 
and colonies from carrying on any fishery on the banks of 
Newfoundland, or other places therein mentioned, under 
certain conditions and limitations " was passed 30 March 
1775. 

47 Peers and commoners. Lord Chatham, the Duke of 
Richmond, Edmund Burke, Colonel Barre and many other 
notable members of both houses protested against the course 
of the ministry. 

50 We mean not to dissolve that union. With the ex- 
ception of Samuel Adams few if any of the statesmen had 
any idea of separation from the mother country. Franklin 
told Lord Chatham that he had never heard from any Amer- 
ican " drunk or sober, the least expression of a wish for a 
separation or a hint that such a thing would be advanta- 
geous to America." And John Adams said in March 1775 
that it was slander against Massachusetts to say that " any 
part hankered after independence." 



422 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



AUTHORITIES 

American Archives. Fourth Series. Vol. II. Compiled 

by Peter Force. 
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky. 
Life of Washington. Vol. I. Washington Irving. 
The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske. 
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard 

Frothingham. 

The Declaration of Independence 1776 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States,, edition of 1878.] 

The second continental congress convened for its third 
annual session in May 1776. One of its first steps was to 
urge the several colonies to provide themselves governments 
which should supersede the make-shift committees and con- 
gresses which had managed their affairs since they had 
ceased to be governed by the British. The resolution which 
conveyed the advice amounted to a declaration of inde- 
pendence for it stated that " the exercise of every kind of 
authority under the crown ought to be totally suppressed." 
North Carolina was the first colony to make a move in the 
right direction; she framed for herself a government and 
empowered her delegates to congress to join any measure 
which seemed essential to the public good. Georgia gave 
her representatives similar instructions. Virginia went still 
farther and authorized her delegates to congress " to pro- 
pose to that respectable body to declare the United Colonies 
free and independent States." Other colonies promised to 
uphold congress should it see fit to make such a declaration. 

On 7 June Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed and 

423 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the following reso- 
lutions : 

" That these United Colonies are, and of a right ought to 
be, free and independent States; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British Crown ; and that all polit- 
ical connection between them and the State of Great Bri- 
tain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. 

" That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual 
measures for forming foreign alliances. 

" That a plan of confederation be prepared and trans- 
mitted to the several colonies, for their consideration and 
approbation." 

So important was the measure that it was agreed to post- 
pone the debate till 1 July. In the mean time Thomas 
Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert Liv- 
ingstone were to draw up a declaration of independence. 
A second committee was appointed to frame a confederation 
to be submitted to the colonies and a third to consider the 
question of treaties with foreign powers. 

When on 1 July congress took up Lee's motion nine col- 
onies voted for it. On the following day three more fell in 
line. On 4 July the delegates of the 12 colonies unani- 
mously adopted the declaration of independence presented 
by the committee, the work being almost entirely Jeffer- 
son's. New York adopted it 9 July. The thing was done 
and the joy and relief of the people were shown in bonfires, 
torch-light processions, firing of guns and ringing of bells. 
The people seemed " to recognize this resolution," said 
Samuel Adams, " as though it were a decree promulgated 
from heaven." 

A newspaper of this time thus describes the reception 
of the news in New York: " This afternoon the Declaration 
of Independence was read at the head of each brigade of 
the Continental Army posted at New York. It was received 

424 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

everywhere with loud huzzas and the utmost demonstrations 
of joy and tonight the equestrian statue of George III 
which Tory pride and folly raised in the year 1770, has, 
by the Sons of Freedom, been laid prostrate in the dirt — 
the just reward of the ungrateful tyranny! The lead 
wherewith the monument was made is to be run into bullets." 

53 Laws . . . wholesome and necessary. Frequently 
laws made by the colonial assemblies, dealing with commer- 
cial necessities, were denied the assent of the crown. 

53 Laws of immediate . . . importance. The assembly 
of Massachusetts was prorogued from time to time and 
important bills " utterly neglected." 

53 Places unusual. After the Boston tea-party the Bos- 
ton Port Bill was passed. Ships were prohibited from en- 
tering or leaving Boston till the tea was paid for and Mar- 
blehead instead of Boston was made a port of entry. The 
seat of government was removed to Salem but the public 
records were kept in Boston under military guard so that 
the colonists could not use them. The South Carolina as- 
sembly was convened at Beaufort instead of the capital. 

53 Prevent the population. A proclamation was issued 
by the king in 1763 excluding settlers from the western 
territory just acquired from France by the treaty of 1763. 
It was the policy of England to keep settlers out of the 
" back country," reserving it for a hunting-ground for the 
Indians through whom she carried on a large trade in furs. 

54 Swarms of Officers. Collectors of duties and 
officers of the admiralty courts. The colonists paid their 
salaries. Many of them were men of whom England was 
glad to be rid. 

54 Military . . . superior to the Civil Power. In 1774 
General Gage was appointed governor of Massachusetts. 
In New York too the military was made superior to the 
civil power. 

425 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

54 Jurisdiction foreign to our constitution. This refers 
to the appointment of the council of Massachusetts by the 
crown in 1774. This and most of the other grievances 
enumerated here are also stated in the previous declara- 
tions. 

55 Abdicated Government. In 1775 the king in a mes- 
sage to parliament declared the colonists to be in a state 
of rebellion. This and the fact that he had made war on 
them probably seemed to the colonists an abdication of 
government. 

55 Foreign mercenaries. King George hired 20,000 in- 
fantry from the small German states. The Hessians, as 
all these hired soldiers were called, were especially hateful 
to the colonists. 

55 Constrained our fellow Citizens. England kept up 
this practice of impressing American seamen till the close 
of the war of 1812. 

56 These United Colonies. On 9 September 1776 con- 
gress resolved " That in all continental commissions, and 
other instruments where, heretofore, the words United 
Colonies have been used, the style be altered, for the future, 
to the United States." 

AUTHORITIES 

The American Revolution. Vol. I. John Fiske. 

The Story of the Revolution. Vol. II. Henry Cabot 

Lodge. 
The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Richard 

Frothingham. 
The Constitutional and Political History of the United 

States. Vol. I. Dr. H. von Hoist. 
The French War and the Revolution. W. M. Sloane. 
Thomas Jefferson. John T. Morse, Jr. 
American Archives. Fifth Series. Vol. I. Complied by 

Peter Force. 42 g 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



Articles of Confederation 1777 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States, edition of 1878.] 

Before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 
congress appointed a committee " to prepare and digest the 
form of confederation to be entered into between these col- 
onies." The committee presented 12 July 1776 a draft of 
a constitution said to have been written by John Dickinson 
of Delaware but many changes were made and it was not 
till 15 November 1777 that the final draft was adopted by 
congress. Before the close of 1778 all of the states except 
Delaware and Maryland had adopted the articles. Delaware 
ratified them in the following year but Maryland held back, 
though by so doing she kept the country without a govern- 
ment. Some of the large states, especially Virginia, claimed 
large portions of what was known as the Northwest terri- 
tory and that fact in the opinion of Maryland would give 
them too large a preponderance in the proposed confeder- 
ation. At length, 1 March 1781, on the assurance that these 
claims would be transferred to the proposed central govern- 
ment as soon as possible, Maryland fell into line and on the 
next day congress met for the first time under a written 
constitution. 

The instrument had many weaknesses. The rights and 
powers of the IS states were clearly defined but the central 
government had little power. " The congress was but a 
board of advice, and its advice could be ignored with im- 
punity." Fortunately the states had been so slow in ratify- 
ing the articles that they were to be in force only eight 
years. They were superseded in 1789 by the Constitution. 

62 Letters of marque and reprisal. "A license or extraor- 

427 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

dinary commission granted by the supreme power of one 
state to its subjects, to make reprisals at sea on the sub- 
jects of another, under pretense of indemnification for 
injuries received." 

63 Taxes . . . shall be laid. Congress had no power 
to levy taxes; it could only make requisitions on the states 
and depend upon their contributions. It took fifteen months 
.of struggle with the states to collect one-fifth of the taxes 
assessed in 1783. Nor did conditions improve as time went 
on. Madison wrote in 1787: " No money is paid into the 
treasury . . . not a single state complies with the requisi- 
tions — some pass them over in silence, some absolutely re- 
ject them. It is quite impossible that a government so weak- 
ened can much longer hold together." 

64 Disputes . . . concerning boundary. Disputes on 
this point were likely to occur. The English sovereigns in 
granting charters had been very vague in regard to the 
limits of territory. Consequently the claims of some of 
the states overlapped. 

65 Coin struck by . . . authority. " Until 1785 
no national coinage was established and none was issued till 
1793/' says John Fiske. " English, French, Spanish and 
German coins, of various and uncertain value passed from 
hand to hand. . . . During the period of the Confederation 
the chaotic state of the currency was a serious obstacle to 
trade." 

The decimal system of currency is the work of Gouver- 
neur Morris, aided by Jefferson. 

66 To borrow money. Congress found that foreign 
powers were not anxious to loan money on such credit. 
Franklin, writing from Paris, put the matter in a nutshell: 
" When the States have not faith in a Congress of their 
own choosing to trust it with money for the payment of their 
common debt, how can they expect Congress should meet 

428 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

with credit when it wants to borrow money for their use 
from strangers ? " 

67 Raise the men . . . and equip them. Congress had 
power to maintain an army for national defence but it could 
not force the states to feed and pay the soldiers. There 
was great dissatisfaction in the army. Many deserted be- 
cause they were not paid and at times there was danger of 
actual mutiny. Had not patriotic citizens contributed their 
private fortunes to the cause congress could not have kept 
the army together. 

67 Unless nine States assent. " The necessity of a vote 
of nine States for the passage of any important measure 
made the absence of a State's delegation quite as effective 
as a negative vote/' says Alexander Johnston. " In order 
to save the expense of a delegation, the States began to 
neglect the election of them, unless they had some object 
to gain by their attendance. It was necessary for Congress 
to make repeated and urgent appeals in order to obtain a 
quorum for the ratification of the treaty of peace with Great 
Britain." 

68 Canada . . . shall be admitted. There was a theory 
held by the statesmen of the day that Canada wished to be 
annexed to the United States. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the Formation of the Constitution of the 
United States of America. Vol. I. George Bancroft. 

The Making of the Nation. Francis A. Walker. 

The Constitutional and Political History of the United 
States. Vol. I. Dr. FI. von Hoist. 

The United States, its History and Constitution. Alex- 
ander Johnston. 



429 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Treaty with France 1778 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

Toward the close of the year 1775 the continental con- 
gress appointed a committee of secret correspondence with 
instructions to correspond with friends of the colonies in 
foreign countries. France was found to be friendly and 
a commissioner was sent in March 1776 to ascertain whether 
she would enter into an alliance with the colonies in case 
they should declare their independence. After the Decla- 
ration of Independence congress sent Benjamin Franklin to 
France to negotiate for a treaty of alliance. He reached 
Paris in December 1776 and was well received. Just then 
came the news of American defeats on the Hudson, and 
France drew back though she secretly furnished ships and 
funds. For months nothing was done about the alliance, 
but the surrender of Burgoyne changed the face of Ameri- 
can affairs and 20 December 1777 Franklin was informed 
that France would acknowledge the independence of the 
colonies and give her support. On 6 February 1778 two 
treaties were concluded, one of alliance and one of amity 
and commerce. On 10 April France sent a minister to the 
United States thus making the alliance complete. These 
were the first treaties made by the United States. 

AUTHORITIES 

Franklin in France. Edward E. Hale and Edward E. 

Hale, Jr. 
Benjamin Franklin. John T. Morse, Jr. 
The American Revolution. W. E. H. Lecky. 
The Story of the Revolution. Vol. I. Henry Cabot Lodge. 

430 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Treaty with Great Britain 1783 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

Lord Cornwallis surrendered 19 October 1781 and 5 
March 1782 parliament passed an act enabling the king to 
make peace until July 1783. Congress put the negotiations 
for peace into the hands of Benjamin Franklin, John 
Adams and John Jay, and Henry Laurens was sent as an 
" adjoint." In accordance with the treaty of 1778 the 
American commissioners were instructed to act on the ad- 
vice of France. Congress was influenced both by gratitude 
for the aid given by France and by motives of policy. But 
the commissioners, when they reached Paris, understood 
foreign affairs better than congress did and they saw that 
France was playing a double game. To " confide " in 
France meant to confide in Spain, and the Spanish interests 
in the Mississippi river and those of the United States con- 
flicted. So the commissioners used their own judgment 
instead of that of Vergennes, the French minister. After 
they had cut loose from France the negotiations with Great 
Britain went on fairly well. The American conditions 
of peace were full and complete independence, the with- 
drawal of all British troops, the freedom of fishing off the 
banks of Newfoundland, and the establishment of the Mis- 
sissippi river as the western boundary, the northern boun- 
dary to be the same as before the Quebec act of 1774. The 
negotiations went on from 15 April to 30 November 1782 
when a provisional treaty was signed. A cessation of hos- 
tilities was declared 20 January 1783. The definitive 
treaty, in practically the same terms as the provisional one, 
was signed 3 September 1783. 

78 Free . . . independent States. The commissioners 

431 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

from the United States refused to treat with Great Britain 
" under the description of colonies." Before entering into 
negotiations they demanded to be considered as representa- 
tives of an independent people. 

80 Article III. Adams was better posted on the fishery- 
claims than the other commissioners and he made a stand 
for the American rights. The restoration of the New Eng- 
land boundary is also largely due to Adams. 

81 Article V. The Articles of Confederation did not 
give congress power to force the states to make restitution 
of property to British subjects and Franklin plainly told 
the British commissioner so. 

83 Without . . . carrying away any negroes. This 
clause, which was the work of Laurens, caused a great deal 
of trouble. The British troops did carry away about 3,000 
negroes and because compensation was not made some of 
the states refused to pay British debts. The British retali- 
ated by refusing to vacate the western military posts. ' 

83 Article VIII. It was Jay who insisted upon this 
article. He had just come from Spain and he knew that 
through France she was working against the demand of 
the Americans for the Mississippi. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Life and Works of John Adams. Vol. III. Edited by 

Charles Francis Adams. 
The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin. Vol. VIII. 

Compiled and edited by John Bigelow. 
Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay. Vols. 

I. and II. 
John Jay. George Pellew. 

The Critical Period of American History. John Fiske. 
The Story of the Revolution. Vol. II. Henry Cabot 

Lodge. 

432 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



The Northwest Territorial Government 1787 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States, edition of 1878.] 

By the treaty of 1783 "Great Britain relinquished her 
claim to the great territory east of the Mississippi. Por- 
tions of this country were claimed by Massachusetts, New 
York and other states by virtue of their charters which 
granted them land from sea to sea. Some of these claims 
overlapped and were the cause of much discussion. The 
difficulties were finally settled by a cession of most of the 
state claims to congress as a national domain known as the 
Northwest territory. In 1784 Thomas Jefferson submitted 
a plan for a temporary government which after a few 
changes was accepted by congress. 

In 1786 there was formed in Boston an association called 
the Ohio company whose object was the settlement of a por- 
tion of the Northwest territory by old soldiers. The com- 
pany offered to purchase from congress a large tract of land 
provided that congress would guarantee that the settlers 
should be " under the immediate government of Congress 
in such mode and for such time as Congress shall judge 
proper." Congress needed funds and it wished to aid its 
old soldiers, so measures were at once taken to provide a 
suitable government for the territory. The result was the 
act known as the Ordinance of 1787 which was passed 13 
July. A few days after the Ohio company purchased 
5,000,000 acres of land in the new territory. 

The ordinance was of great importance because it pre- 
pared the way for national sovereignty. Under the Articles 
of Confederation congress had no right to pass the act. It 
was never ratified by the states yet even the states the most 

4*33 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

j ealous for state rights did not protest. When the adoption 
of the Constitution was hanging in the balance this inde- 
pendent action of congress in an emergency was used as an 
argument to prove the necessity of framing a government 
with clearly denned powers. The ordinance was re-enacted 
by the constitutional congress 7 August 1789. 

85 In equal parts. This provision was intended to pre- 
vent the entailing of estates and a consequent landed aris- 
tocracy. 

88 Legislative council. The appointment by congress 
of the members of the upper house met with much opposi- 
tion and congress found it expedient to change the law. 

90 Habeas corpus. "A writ having for its object to 
bring a party before a court or judge; especially one to 
inquire into the cause of a person's imprisonment or deten- 
tion by another, with a view to protect the right to personal 
liberty." 

92 Five states. Ohio. Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, 
Michigan and a part of Minnesota were formed from this 
territory. The Ordinance of 1784 provided for the erec- 
tion of ten states. 

93 Such state shall be admitted. So fast did the tide 
of emigration set westward that Ohio was admitted to the 
Union only 16 years after the passage of this ordinance. 

94 Slavery nor . . . servitude. The Ordinance of 1784 
as presented to congress by Jefferson provided for the pro- 
hibition of negro slavery within the limits of the national 
territory after the year 1800. Only seven states voted for 
the measure and a two-thirds vote was necessary. Jeffer- 
son's plan, however, " covered the whole western territory, 
ceded or to be ceded, south as well as north of the Ohio." 
As the Ordinance of 1787 was " for the government only 
of the territory northwest of the Ohio, its prohibition of 
slavery was territorially only about half as large as Jeffer- 

434 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

son's ; and this may help to explain the different fates of the 
two." 

AUTHORITIES 

The Old Northwest. Burke A. Hinsdale. 

The Critical Period of American History. John Fiske. 

The Westward Movement. Justin Winsor. 

The Winning of the West. Vol. III. Theodore Roosevelt. 

The Public Domain. T. Donaldson. 



The Constitution of the United States 1787 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States-, edition of 1878.] 

The Articles of Confederation had scarcely been rati- 
fied before statesmen realized their weakness and began to 
discuss a new plan of government. Washington summed 
up the matter when he said, " We either are a united people 
or we are not. If the former, let us in all matters of gen- 
eral concern act as a nation which has a national authority 
to support ; if we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pre- 
tending to it." 

In January 1786 through the influence of James Madi- 
son Virginia issued an invitation to all the states to send 
delegates to a conference to be held at Annapolis in Sep- 
tember 1786 to discuss a plan for the control of commerce 
by the general government. Only Virginia, Delaware, New 
Jersey and New York were represented and their delegates 
could do no more than issue a call for a fuller conference 
to be held at Philadelphia in the following May, " to take 
into consideration the situation of the United States, and to 
devise such further provision as shall appear to them nec- 

435 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

essary to render the constitution of the federal government 
adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The delegates,, 
numbering 55, met 25 May 1787. Washington was chair- 
man and Edward Randolph of Virginia presented a plan 
of government which had been drawn up by Madison. The 
discussion went on behind bolted doors till the middle of 
September. It was a hotly contested battle ; the old ques- 
tion of state or national sovereignty had to be met and 
states with radically diiferent interests had to be brought 
into union. The end was effected only after much com- 
promise and concession and the result was not a revision 
of the articles but an entirely new constitution. 

It was necessary that nine states out of the thirteen should 
ratify the Constitution, and congress referred the matter to 
the several states 28 September 1787. The states ratified 
in the following order : Delaware 7 December, Pennsylvania 
12 December, New Jersey 18 December 1787; Georgia 2 
January, Connecticut 9 January, Massachusetts 6 Febru- 
ary, Maryland 28 April, South Carolina 23 May, New 
Hampshire 21 June, Virginia 25 June, New York 26 July 
1788; North Carolina 21 November 1789; Rhode Island 29 
May 1790. The seat of government had been changed from 
Philadelphia to New York and on 30 April 1789 the new 
government was set up at Federal hall. 

The first ten amendments to the constitution were pro- 
posed by the first congress to the legislatures of the several 
states 25 September 1789. They went into effect 3 No- 
vember 1791. The eleventh amendment was proposed by 
the third congress 5 September 1794 and went into effect 
8 January 1798. The eighth congress on 12 December 
1803 proposed the twelfth amendment in lieu of the origi- 
nal third paragraph of the first section of the second article. 
This amendment went into effect 25 September 1804. The 
thirteenth was proposed by the thirty-eighth congress 1 

436 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

February 1865 and went into effect 18 December 1865. 
The thirty-ninth congress on 16 June 1866 proposed the 
fourteenth amendment which went into effect 28 July 1868. 
The fifteenth amendment was proposed 27 February 1869 
by the fortieth congress and went into effect 30 March 
1870. 

95 Senate and House of Representatives. The method 
of representing the states caused great discussion in the 
constitutional convention. It seemed fitting to many that 
the members of the lower house which was to correspond to 
the British house of commons should be elected by the peo- 
ple. "It is essential to the democratic rights of the com- 
munity that the first branch be elected by the people/' 
argued Hamilton, and Madison and others brought forth 
convincing arguments for a popular election. Several plans 
were proposed for choosing the members of the senate. 
The Virginia plan, which had a strong following, would 
have based the members of both houses upon the popula- 
tion of the states. The smaller states insisted upon an 
equal vote in at least one branch of congress. Feeling ran 
so high that there was danger that the convention would 
come to nothing. At last by considerable compromise it 
was arranged that representation in the lower house should 
be based upon population and that each state without regard 
to size should have two senators. 

95 Representatives . . . shall be apportioned, etc. This 
basis of representation was changed by the fourteenth 
amendmment. 

95 Those bound to service. The manner of counting 
slaves caused a lengthy debate. At last it was decided to 
count every five slaves as three persons. " The Articles of 
Confederation," says Bancroft, " took no notice of slavery 
except by withholding the privileges of intercitizenship 
from the slave. The enumeration of slaves was in the dis- 

437 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

tribution of political power a matter of indifference as long 
as congress voted by states. ... In framing a constitu- 
tion in which representation in one branch of the legislature 
was made to depend on population, it became the political 
interest of the states in which the slaves abounded to have 
them included in the enumeration of the population equally 
with the free negroes and whites." 

95 The actual enumeration. The first census was taken 
in 1790 and gave to congress 105 representatives. 

96 One for every thirty thousand. At first it was pro- 
posed that each 40,000 inhabitants should entitle a state to 
send a representative to congress but on that basis the house 
was likely to be too small and at Washington's suggestion 
the number was changed to 30,000. The basis of represen- 
tation has been changed from time to time as the population 
of the states increased. 

101 The Migration . . . of such persons, etc. This 
was a compromise effected after a hot discussion. Some of 
the congress were for an immediate prohibition of the slave- 
trade, but South Carolina, Georgia and probably North 
Carolina and Virginia would have refused to accept the 
Constitution, and consequently there would have been from 
the beginning a federation of slave-holding states. The 
Articles of Confederation had no power to interfere with 
the slave-trade. 

101 Bill of Attainder. " An act of Parliament pro- 
nouncing sentence of death against an accused person, espe- 
cially against political offenders of high degree, which 
enactment is followed by forfeiture of estate and corrup- 
tion of blood as in attainder under judicial sentence." 

101 Ex post facto Law. Any law which makes an inno- 
cent act, done before its passage, criminal; or aggravates 
the crime, making it legally greater than when committed; 
or changes the punishment, inflicting a greater one or one 

438 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

different in kind than the law affixed to the crime when it 
was committed. 

102 No capitation . . . shall be laid, etc. " This was 
intended to prevent congress from enforcing a general 
emancipation by the special taxation of slaves," comments 
Bancroft. 

102 Vessels u . . pay Duties. Some of the states, 
notably New York, had collected for themselves at their 
own ports duties on foreign goods and had taxed articles 
brought in from other states. 

103 No State shall . . . enter into any Compact. " The 
country had been filled with schemes for a division of the 
13 states into two or more separate groups." 

103 The executive Power, etc. There was much dis- 
cussion concerning the chief executive — whether the power 
should be vested in one or in several persons, whether he or 
they should be re-eligible to office, whether the election 
should be by congress or by electors chosen by the state 
legislatures. The matter was not decided till near the close 
of the convention. 

103 The electors shall meet, etc. This method of elect- 
ing the president and the vice president was abrogated by 
the twelfth amendment. But even the amendment failed 
to specify by whom the votes should be counted and this 
omission resulted in the Tilden-Hayes contest of 1877. A 
bill to regulate the electoral count was passed by congress 
S February 1887. This provides for the states' certifica- 
tion of their votes. The certificate presented by a state 
cannot be rejected unless both houses vote against it. 

104 Removal of the President from office. An act of 
congress passed in 1886 provides for the succession in case 
of the death or disability of both president and vice presi- 
dent. The office falls to the members of the cabinet in the 
order of the creation of their departments. 

439 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

106 He shall . . . recommend . . . such measures. 
Washington and Adams read their messages to congress 
and congress replied with an address,, but beginning with 
Jefferson's first term the presidents have since sent to con- 
gress messages which require no answer. 

106 The judicial Power of the United States, etc. 
" The Constitution's leading difference from the Confeder- 
ation is that it gives the national government power over 
individuals. The Federal courts are the principal agent in 
securing this essential power; without them, the Constitu- 
tion might easily have been as dismal a failure as the Con- 
federation/' says Johnston. 

108 No person held to Service, etc. The fugitive slave 
law of 1850 was based upon this clause. It was abrogated 
by the thirteenth amendment. 

109 Shall propose amendments. Several of the states 
voted for the adoption of the Constitution on the virtual 
condition that amendments should be made as soon as prac- 
ticable. Nearly 1 700 amendments have been proposed since 
the adoption of the Constitution. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Federalist. 

The Critical Period of American History. John, Fiske. 

History of the Formation of the Constitution of the 
United States of America. George Bancroft. 

The Making of the Nation. Francis A. Walker. 

The United States, its History and Constitution. Alexan- 
der Johnston. 

James Madison. Sidney Howard Gay. 

History of the Life and Times of James Madison. Vol. I. 
William C. Rives. 



440 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



Washington's First Inaugural Address 1789 

[Text derived from " The Writings of George Washing- 
ton," Vol. XII, edited by Jared Sparks.] 

One of the provisions of the Constitution was for the elec- 
tion of a chief executive officer to be called the president. 
The question of the adoption of the Constitution had been the 
cause of the first political agitation in the country. Those 
who favored its adoption were called Federalists, those who 
opposed it Anti-Federalists. There was however no divi- 
sion of opinion as to the man to be nominated for president. 
Washington loomed up the largest figure in the country, not 
only on account of his military service but for his work as 
a statesman as well. His cool judgment, his firmness and 
his foresight had stood his country in good stead in more 
than one emergency. He had urged the Declaration of 
Independence, had been chairman of the constitutional con- 
vention and now all eyes were turned toward him as the 
fitting chief executive. He was unanimously elected and 
John Adams was chosen vice president. On SO April 1789 
Washington was inaugurated at Federal hall at Wall and 
Nassau streets, New York. His private secretary thus de- 
scribed the scene: 

" The oath was administered in public by Chancellor Liv- 
ingston and at the moment the chancellor proclaimed him 
president of the United States the air was rent by repeated 
shouts and huzzas — ' God bless our Washington. Long live 
Washington.' We then returned to the hall, where, being 
seated as before, the president arose and addressed the two 
branches of Congress in a speech which was heard with 
eager and marked attention." 



441 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



AUTHORITIES 

George Washington. Vol. II. Henry Cabot Lodge. 

The Life of George Washington. Vol. IV. Washington 

Irving. 
George Washington. Woodrow Wilson. 
Life and Times of George Washington. Vol. II. J. F. 

Schroeder. 



Washington s Second Inaugural Address 1793 

[Text derived from " A Compilation of the Messages 
and Papers of the Presidents." By James D. Richardson. 
Vol. I.] 

At the second election for president Washington was again 
unanimously chosen by the electors. That the strength of 
the Federalists was waning was shown in the congressional 
elections but to both parties Washington still seemed the 
safest guide and leader. His own party naturally wished 
to see his policy continued and the leaders of the Anti- 
Federalists felt that his re-election stood for the general 
welfare of the country. So far as their own party was con- 
cerned it was still in an unformed condition and they pre- 
ferred to continue under Washington's administration to 
risking that of a more avowed Federalist. It was with much 
hesitation that Washington accepted the office. He had 
served his country for many years and he longed for the 
retirement of Mount Vernon. But he felt that he was still 
needed at the head of national affairs and he set aside his 
own inclinations. 

The second inauguration took place in the senate cham- 
ber. " On either side of the broad aisle that was left 
vacant in the center, were assembled the two houses of con- 

442 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

gress. As the president entered, all arose, and remained 
standing till he had ascended the steps at the upper end 
of the chamber, and taken his seat in the speaker's chair. 
. . . Having retained his seat for a few moments, while 
the members resumed their seats, the president arose, and 
taking from his breast a roll of manuscript, proceeded to 
read his address. His voice was full and sonorous, deep 
and rich in its tones, free from that trumpet call which 
it could assume amid the tumult of battle . . . but suffi- 
ciently loud and clear to fill the chamber." 

The oath of office was administered by Judge Cushing. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Life and Times of George Washington. Vol. II. J. 

F. Schroeder. 
Washington after the Revolution. Vol. II. William 

Spohn Baker. 

Proclamation of Neutrality 1793 

[Text derived from American State Papers, Foreign 
Relations, I.] 

In 1793, the year when Washington was a second time 
made president, France reached the height of her revolu- 
tion and in addition to her civil troubles found that she had 
almost the whole of Europe to fight. American sympa- 
thizers who did not foresee the consequences of such an 
alliance were anxious to join France and thus repay her 
services during the American Revolution. By the treaty 
of alliance made in 1778 the United States had promised 
to aid France against her enemies. Hamilton and others 
insisted that the change of government in France from 
kingdom to republic abrogated the treaty. Washington 

443 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

and his cabinet saw that aid to France would mean war with 
Great Britain and Spain, for both countries had a foot- 
hold in the United States. Great Britain still held the 
military posts on the northern frontier and Spain controlled 
the lower Mississippi. Washington decided and his cabinet 
agreed with him that the United States must take no sides 
in European wars and on 22 April he issued a definitive 
proclamation of neutrality. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the People of the United States. Vol. II. John 

Bach McMaster. 
George Washington. Vol. II. Henry Cabot Lodge. 
The Life of George Washington. Vol. V. Washington 

Irving. 

Treaty with the Six Nations 1794 

[Text derived from Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, 
Vol. II, 1903.] 

The Six Nations or Iroquois was a confederation of In- 
dians who lived in central New York and controlled the 
surrounding tribes. The federation comprised the Mo- 
hawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the 
Senecas and the Tuscaroras. During the American Revo- 
lution the Iroquois fought with the British under Brant and 
committed the massacres of Wyoming and Cherry Valley. 
When the war closed the Indians were at the mercy of the 
Americans and most of them except the Oneidas and the 
Tuscaroras migrated to Canada. By the treaty of Fort 
Stanwix concluded 22 October 1784 the United States con- 
firmed the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras in the possession of 
their lands and guaranteed to the remnants of the other 

444 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

tribes the territory then in actual possession. In return the 
Indians ceded to the United States all the land west " of 
a line beginning on Lake Ontario at the mouth of Oyon- 
wayea creek, running south to the mouth of Buffalo creek, 
and thence to the north line of Pennsylvania, which it 
followed west and south to the Ohio." The Indians were 
to be secure in the possession of all the territory east and 
north of this boundary, excepting a reservation six miles 
square around Oswego. This transfer of territory was 
confirmed by the treaties of 1789, 1790 and 1794. The 
date of the treaty of 1794 is 11 November. The treaty is 
typical of many made between the United States and the 
Indian tribes. 

126 Treaties . . . with . . . New York. The state 
of New York in 1785 and 1788 purchased the lands of the 
Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Onondagas, and Cayugas, except a 
reservation for each. 

127 Sir William Johnson. He was a famous agent 
among the Indians. The treaty referred to was made at 
Fort Stanwix in 1768. 

AUTHORITIES 

New American Encyclopedia. Vol. IX. 

Treaty with Great Britain 1794 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

Although the Proclamation of Neutrality was not issued 
to favor England it did favor her; but she responded by 
many offensive acts, as if trying to force the United States 
to declare war against her. She still held the military posts 
on the western frontier because the debts due to British 
subjects were not paid as agreed in the treaty of 1783, 

445 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 






American seamen were impressed, American ships carrying 
corn to France were seized as " contraband of war " and 
duties were raised on goods imported from America. She 
refused to maintain a minister in the United States and the 
American minister to England, John Adams, was treated 
with scant courtesy. An embargo proclaimed against Brit- 
ish ships helped to bring matters to a crisis and war seemed 
inevitable. At this juncture Washington despatched Chief 
Justice John Jay to London as envoy extraordinary to 
arrange for a settlement of the difficulties. He returned 28 
May 1795 with a treaty which has since been called by his 
name. It was confirmed by the senate in special session 
after the clause referring to the trade with the West Indies 
was stricken out. When the treaty became public it met a 
storm of indignation, not only from the people but from 
the house of representatives as well who claimed the right 
to be consulted. This was the first treaty made under the 
Constitution and at this time it was decided that power to 
make treaties lies with the president and the senate. Despite 
its shortcomings the Jay treaty has since been considered 
a wise measure. It held back the war with England for 1 8 
years till the United States could gather strength and 
resources. 

132 All posts and places. These were Oswego, Niagara, 
Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. The British refused to compen- 
sate the United States for the detention of these posts on 
the ground that the United States had permitted the states 
to prevent the recovery of British debts. 

136 What river . . . the St. Croix. This was decided 
to be the Schoodic river. 

137 Article VI. By a convention concluded at London 
8 January 1802 Great Britain made a concession in regard 
to this claim and it was settled by the payment of $2,- 
664,000 by the United States. 

446 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

140 Article VII. The commissioners appointed to set- 
tle the question of illegal captures or condemnations 
decided in favor of the United States and her merchants 
received an award of $10,345,000. 

141 Letter from Mr. Jefferson. This letter promised 
restitution of or compensation for vessels captured between 
5 June and 7 August 1793. After August 7 restitution 
would be made if possible. 

143 Article X. The provision in this article is called 
by Pellew in his " John Jay " " a novelty in international 
diplomacy, and a distinct advance in civilization. ... In 
the War of 1812 the United States happened for the 
moment to be the creditor nation, and the millions which 
this provision saved to her citizens it would be difficult to 
estimate." 

143 Article XII. This article, rejected by the senate, 
dealt with the trade between the United States and the West 
Indies. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the People of the United States. Vol. II. John 

Bach McMaster. 
John Jay. George Pellew. 

Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay. Vol. IV. 
The Westward Movement. Justin Winsor. 



Washington 's Farewell Address 1796 

[Text derived from " The Writings of George Washing- 
ton," Vol. XIII. Edited by W. C. Ford. Mr. Ford's text 
follows exactly the original manuscript.] 

Although the Anti-Federalists had steadily been gaining 
strength during Washington's second administration he 
would again have been the choice of the people had he al- 

447 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

lowed himself to be a candidate for a third term. Toward 
the close of his first term he wished to retire from office 
and return to Mount Vernon and at that time he decided to 
issue a farewell address which should embody his views on 
governmental aifairs and at the same time warn the country 
of dangers which he foresaw. During his second adminis- 
tration his mind often dwelt on the projected farewell and 
in May 1796 he sent to Hamilton a rough draft of an 
address with the request that he make any revision which 
seemed necessary or rewrite it entirely if he thought advis- 
able. There were several revisions before the document 
met the views of both Washington and Hamilton and it 
was not till 19 September 1796 that the address was given 
out for publication. The style may be Hamilton's but the 
ideas are Washington's and together they drew up what 
Henry Cabot Lodge has called " the most famous and most 
influential piece of advice in the history of our country." 
The address was read in the chamber of the house of repre- 
sentatives. Adams reported that there was hardly a dry 
eye but Washington's. 

157 Sacrifice of inclination. On 16 April 1789 Wash- 
ington wrote in his diary : " About ten o'clock, I bade adieu 
to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; 
and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful 
sensations than I have words to express, set out for New 
York . . . with the best disposition to render service to 
my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of 
answering its expectations." And Jefferson reported that 
soon after his second inauguration Washington said that 
he would rather be in his grave than in his present 
situation. 

158 Perplexed . . . affairs with foreign Nations. At 
that time our relations with both France and England were 
very much strained. 

448 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

161 Interior communications. As early as 1770 "Wash- 
ington had agitated the question of an easy means of com- 
munication between the Atlantic states and the western 
territory. In 1785 he accepted the presidency of a com- 
pany whose object was the extension of the navigation of 
the James and Potomac rivers. 

163 Two Treaties. These were the treaty with Spain 
of 1795 and the Jay treaty with Great Britain. The Span- 
ish treaty secured to the United States the free navigation 
of the Mississippi. The Jay treaty was especially gratify- 
ing to the West because by it the western posts which had 
been held by the British in violation of the treaty of 1783 
were at last opened. So long as these posts were in the 
hands of the British the West was deprived of a lucrative 
trade in furs. Then too the Indians were incited to keep up 
a warfare on the settlers along the frontier. 

164 Sever them from their Brethren. There had been 
threats by some of the people of the western territory of 
separation from the Union in case a treaty was not made 
with Spain for the opening of the Mississippi. 

164 Improved upon your first essay. Washington had 
been one of the first to see the weakness of the Articles of 
Confederation and one of the strongest advocates of a con- 
stitution which should bind the several states together. 
Throughout this address he holds up the practical advan- 
tages to be gained from the continuance of the Union. 

165 Combinations and association. Political clubs in 
imitation of certain French organizations were the fashion 
at that time. Washington in his message to congress in 
1794 had referred to these associations which he thought 
indicated dangerous French influence. 

1.67 Foreign influence. There was much sympathy for 
France in the United States and on the other hand Great 
Britain had many partisans. 

449 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

168 Constitutional spheres. Much was said in the early 
days of the Constitution about the necessity of preserving 
a balance between the administrative, executive and judicial 
departments. 

169 Discharge the debts. The national debt was paid 
in 1835. 

170 Taxes . . . unpleasant. Probably this remark was 
occasioned by the Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania. 
An excise law passed in 1791 was especially disliked in 
four of the western counties of Pennsylvania, where whis- 
key was used as currency. Attempts to enforce the law in 
July 1794 led to an insurrection of such proportions that 
Washington ordered out 15,000 militia. When congress 
assembled Washington addressed to them a message dealing 
with the insurrection. 

170 Passionate attachments. This is another allusion to 
the sentimental sympathy with France. Washington had 
been much censured for his neutrality during the troubles 
between France and Great Britain. 

173 Our detached situation . . . shall counsel. This 
paragraph contains the germ and gist of our foreign policy 
which has long been known as the Monroe Doctrine. 

175 Proclamation of the 22nd of April, 1793. His 
proclamation of neutrality. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Life of George Washington. Vol. V. Washington 

Irving. 
George Washington. Vol. II. Henry Cabot Lodge. 
Life and Times of George Washington. Vol. II. J. F. 

Schroeder. 
An Enquiry into the Formation of Washington's Farewell 

Address. Horace Binney. 

450 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Treaty with France 1803 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United States 
Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

In 1 802 Spain closed the Mississippi to the United States 
and forbade the use of New Orleans as a deposit for mer- 
chandise. This was in violation of the treaty of 1795 by 
which Spain promised to continue the use of New Orleans 
or to assign to the United States " on another part of the 
banks of the Mississippi an equivalent establishment." But 
this was not all; it transpired that Spain had by a secret 
treaty ceded the territory of Louisiana to France. Spain 
was a worn-out power and therefore a fairly safe neighbor, 
but to have the territory of Louisiana in the hands of France 
and Napoleon was quite another matter. President Jeffer- 
son wrote to Livingston, the American minister at Paris, 
" The cession of Louisiana and the Floridas by Spain to 
France completely reverses all the political relations of the 
United States and will form a new epoch in our political 
career. There is on the globe one single spot the possessor 
of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Or- 
leans, through which the produce of three-eighths of our 
territory must go to market; and from its fertility it will 
yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more 
than half of our inhabitants. France placing herself at 
that door assumes to us the attitude of defiance . . . the 
day that France takes possession of New Orleans . . . 
seals the union of two nations, who in conjunction, can main- 
tain exclusive possession of the ocean. From that moment 
we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." 
It was clearly necessary that the United States should pur- 
chase New Orleans and congress appropriated $2,000,000 
for that purpose. James Monroe was sent to Paris to treat, 

451 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

together with Livingston, for the purchase. The commis- 
sioners dealt directly with Napoleon instead of his prime 
minister. Napoleon saw that he could not long hold the 
Louisiana territory against Great Britain and rather than 
have it fall into her hands he would sell it to the United 
States. Accordingly he offered the Americans the whole 
vast territory for $1 5,000,000. They exceeded their instruc- 
tions and concluded the bargain. The treaty of cession and 
two conventions were concluded 30 April 1803. " I have 
just given England a maritime rival that will humble her 
pride," said Napoleon as the French minister signed his 
name. The senate ratified the treaty and 10 November an 
act was passed to provide for raising funds for the pur- 
chase. The Louisiana territory passed into the possession 
of the United States 20 December 1805. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the Louisiana Purchase. James K. Hosmer. 
A History of the People of the United States. Vol. III. 

John Bach McMaster. 
History of the United States of America. Vol. II. Henry 

Adams. 
The Winning of the West. IV. Theodore Roosevelt. 

Treaty with Great Britain 1814 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

On 18 June 1812 the United States again declared war 
against Great Britain. This struggle, sometimes called the 
second war for independence, continued till 8 January 1815 
when General Packenham surrendered to General Jackson 
at New Orleans. In the autumn of 1812 the czar of Russia 

452 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

offered to mediate between Great Britain and the United 
States. The United States would have accepted his offices 
but Great Britain refused them, though she declared her 
readiness to treat with the United States directly. After 
many delays the commissioners met at Ghent in August 
1814. Great Britain took a high hand and made demands, 
many of which had no relation to the causes of the war. 
The Americans refused to consider them and negotiations 
were broken off. Then came a series of defeats to the army 
of Great Britain and her commissioners were instructed to 
ask the Americans for the heads of a treaty. A dispute 
between the American commissioners caused more delay but 
a compromise was finally effected and the treaty was con- 
cluded 24 December 1814. 

AUTHORITIES 

A History of the People of the United States. Vol. IV. 

John Bach McMaster. 
History of the United States of America. Vol. IX. Henry 

Adams. 
John Quincy Adams. John T. Morse, Jr. 

Treaty with Spain 1819 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

Florida which was the property of Spain was the source 
of considerable trouble to the southern states. It was an 
asylum for fugitive slaves, and a rendezvous for pirates 
and other desperadoes who gradually gained control of a 
large part of the territory. The Seminole Indians fre- 
quently combined with these desperate characters in attacks 
upon the Georgia plantations. Several attempts were made 

453 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

to subdue the Indians and at last General Jackson who 
invaded Florida in 1818 conquered them, though the terri- 
tory remained in the hands of the Spanish. President 
Madison had in 1810 taken possession of West Florida, as 
the strip of coast on the Gulf was called, and at the same 
time congress had authorized him to take " temporary pos- 
session " of East Florida. Although this was not done 
Spain saw that she could not long hold East Florida and she 
decided to sell it to the United States. A treaty for the 
cession of the territory was made 22 February 1819 but it 
was not ratified by Spain till 24 October 1820. By an act 
of congress of 3 March 1821 President Madison was author- 
ized to take possession of the territory. 

AUTHORITIES 

A History of the People of the United States. Vol. IV. 

John Bach McMaster. 
John Quincy Adams. John T. Morse, Jr. 

Missouri Compromise 1820-1821 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, 

in.] 

In March 1818 Missouri, which was a part of the Louisi- 
ana territory, made application for admission to the Union 
with her rights as a slave-holding state secured to her in 
her constitution. This demand set the north and the south 
at issue and a debate began which lasted nearly two years. 
The question was not only one of admitting Missouri as a 
slave-holding state; a larger one was involved — what divi- 
sion of the Louisiana territory was to be made as between 
free and slave states? After much delay a compromise 
was proposed: Missouri might be admitted as a slave-hold- 
ing state upon the condition that all the states afterward 

454 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

formed from the portion of the Louisiana territory lying 
north of latitude 36° 30' should be free and that slavery 
should forever be excluded from that part of the territory. 
The conditions were accepted and Missouri was authorized 
to organize a state government with slavery in its constitu- 
tion. The members of the Missouri convention who framed 
the constitution inserted a paragraph making it the duty of 
the state legislature to prevent mulattoes and free negroes 
from settling in the state. The constitution was presented 
to congress for approval and the battle was fought over 
again. Another compromise was proposed by Henry Clay 
offering Missouri admission provided the objectionable 
clause relating to free negroes should " never be construed 
to authorize the passage of any law." The compromise 
was accepted and on 2 March 1821 the bill passed both 
houses. President Monroe announced the admission of 
Missouri 10 August 1821. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Middle Period. John W. Burgess. 

A History of the American People. Vol. IV. John Bach 

McMaster. 
Life of Henry Clay. Carl Schurz. 
The American Conflict. Vol. I. Horace Greeley. 
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. 

Vol. I. Henry Wilson. 

The Monroe Doctrine 1823 

[Text derived from President Monroe's seventh annual 
message to congress, dated 2 December 1823. The message 
is found in House and Senate Journals, 1st session of 18th 
congress.] 

After the fall of Napoleon the sovereigns of Europe 

455 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

formed themselves into an alliance for restoring monarchies 
and at the same time for crushing the idea of constitutional 
liberty which had begun in France and had spread over 
Europe. In 1823 the alliance aided Spain to put down a 
revolution and restore Ferdinand VII to his throne and was 
about to consider Spain's request for assistance in winning 
back her South American colonies which had revolted and 
declared their independence. In the mean time Russia 
which owned Alaska asserted her claim to all of the Pacific 
coast north of the fifty-first parallel and forbade seamen 
of any other nation to sail within a hundred miles of the 
coast. Fur traders from Alaska were gradually creeping 
down to Oregon which at that time was held in common by 
the United States and Great Britain. The probable policy 
of the alliance and the encroachments of Russia led Presi- 
dent Monroe in his message of 1823 to state his policy to- 
ward foreign powers who might attempt " to extend their 
system to this portion of the hemisphere." The protest 
was effective; Spain took no more steps toward regaining 
her American colonies and Russia soon made a treaty which 
opened the Pacific to the United States. 

This foreign policy has since been known as the Monroe 
Doctrine,, though its principles are those of Washington 
and his immediate successors. It has seemed to the presi- 
dents following Monroe as a safe and necessary policy. 
There is still some discussion as to what the doctrine really 
is. It has been stated in various ways and has sometimes 
been understood in a broader sense than intended by Pres- 
ident Monroe. The doctrine has never been ratified by 
congress and foreign powers are not bound by international 
law to observe it. It is efficacious because the United States 
has power to enforce it. 

212 Rights . . . menaced. Aside from the invasions 
of Russia there was fear that if the alliance helped Spain 

4,56 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

to regain her American colonies Russia might demand Cali- 
fornia as her share of payment from Spain and thus com- 
mand the Pacific. 

212 Whose independence we have . . . acknowledged. 
The United States in May 1822 recognized the inde- 
pendence of the Spanish-American states. 

213 Government de facto. By a de facto government 
is meant the one in power though it may not be the rightful 
one. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Middle Period. John W. Burgess. 

A History of the People of the United States. Vol. V. 

John Bach McMaster. 
James Monroe. Daniel Coit Gilman. 



Treaty with Great Britain 18^2 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

Several questions between the United States and Great 
Britain called for settlement during the administration of 
President Tyler. Only part of the boundary-line between 
the United States and Canada had been denned by the Jay 
treaty. The boundary from the River St. Croix to the 
St. Lawrence and from Lake Huron to the Rocky mountains 
was still in dispute. Then too there were difficulties con- 
nected with the acts of American sympathizers during the 
Canadian rebellion of 1837 and with the suppression of the 
slave-trade. Great Britain sent Lord Ashburton to Wash- 
ington with full power to settle the disputes and Daniel 
Webster represented the United States. On 9 August the 

457 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Webster-Ashburton treaty was concluded which settled 
most of the disputed points except the Oregon boundary. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the United States. Vol. IV. J. Schouler. 
Life of Daniel Webster. Vol. II. George Ticknor Curtis. 
Daniel Webster. John Bach McMaster. 
Thomas Hart Benton. Theodore Roosevelt. 

Treaty with Great Britain 1846 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

The Ashburton treaty concluded in 1842 between Great 
Britain and the United States denned part of the disputed 
boundary between the two countries, but the dividing line 
west of the Rocky mountains was left undetermined. The 
territory known as the Oregon country, between 40° and 
54° 40', was claimed by the United States both by virtue 
of the discovery of the Columbia river and by purchase 
from France in 1803, France having included it in the 
Louisiana territory. Great Britain claimed the country as 
far south as the Columbia river. It had seemed impossible 
to effect a compromise and since 1818 the two countries had 
agreed upon a joint occupation of the territory with an 
understanding that either party could terminate the arrange- 
ment on twelve months' notice. During the presidential 
campaign of 1844 the Democratic party stood for the re- 
occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas and 
their slogan was " Fifty-four Forty or Fight." President 
Polk in 1846 notified Great Britain that the United States 
was about to withdraw from the agreement for joint occu- 
pancy. In this crisis Great Britain made terms with the 

458 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

United States and a treaty was concluded. The United 
States accepted the forty-ninth degree of north latitude as 
her northern boundary and relinquished Vancouver's island 
to Great Britain. 

AUTHORITIES 

Thomas Hart Benton. Theodore Roosevelt. 

Thirty Years' View. Vol. II. Thomas Hart Benton. 



Treaty with Mexico 1848 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

In 1821 Mexico revolted from Spain and established her 
independence, including Texas in her territory. Texas had 
been a part of the Louisiana purchase but in order to secure 
the Floridas the United States had in 1819 relinquished 
Texas to Spain. Two offers of the United States for the 
purchase of Texas were refused by Mexico. Meanwhile 
Texas was rapidly being settled by immigrants from the 
states, most of them from the south. Mexico had a few 
years after her declaration of independence abolished 
slavery, nevertheless the slave-holding immigrants took 
their slaves with them and when they had become sufficiently 
strong they framed a constitution for Texas. In 1836 
Texas seceded from Mexico with a view to annexation by 
the United States. There was much controversy on the 
subject in congress, for the admission of Texas meant the 
extension of slavery. At last by a joint resolution of both 
houses Texas was annexed 3 March 1845 and in December 
of that year received her statehood. The question of the 
boundaries of Texas was certain to result in trouble with 
Mexico and war was declared 13 May 1846. The struggle 

459 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

ended with the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 
by which the United States gained more than it had set out 
to iight for — the territory known as New Mexico and Upper 
California, in addition to Texas, a region comprising 851,- 
590 square miles. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the War with Mexico. Horatio O. Ladd. 
Thirty Years' View. Vol. II. Thomas Hart Benton. 
The Constitutional and Political History of the United 
States. Vol. III. Dr. H. von Hoist. 



Treaty with Great Britain 1850 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

By the treaty of 1848 with Mexico the United States 
acquired California and simultaneously gold was discovered 
in that territory. The rush of immigration caused the 
government to consider the question of an easy route to Cali- 
fornia and in 1849 a treaty was made with Nicaragua by 
which the United States gained the right to construct a 
ship-canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The eastern 
coast of Nicaragua was occupied by the Mosquito Indians 
over whom Great Britain claimed a protectorate. The Unit- 
ed States maintained that "the Mosquito Indians had no 
such settled territorial site; that if they had Great Britain 
had no such protectorate or sovereignty over them as to 
authorize her to exercise dominion over their soil, even if 
they had any." But fearing that the prosecution of the 
canal might bring on a war with Great Britain the United 
States authorized the Secretary of State to negotiate with 
the British minister at Washington for the settlement of 

460 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

the difficulty. The result was the Clayton-Bulwer treaty 
by which Great Britain and the United States agreed to 
a joint protectorate over the proposed canal. The signing 
of the treaty was followed by much discussion about its 
provisions and before work on the canal was begun the 
Civil war occupied the attention of the United States. Since 
then the United States claimed that the treaty was void 
or voidable for these reasons: " first, that the consideration 
of the treaty having failed, its object never having been 
accomplished, the United States did not receive that for 
which they covenanted; and second, that Great Britain has 
repeatedly violated her agreement not to colonize the Cen- 
tral American coast." 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. 

Vol. I. J. F. Rhodes. 
Digest of the International Law of the United States. F. 

Wharton. 

Compromise of 1850 

[The text of Clay's Resolutions is derived from Senate 
Journal, 31st Congress, 1st Session; The Report of the 
Committee of Thirteen from Senate Report 123, 31st Con- 
gress, 1st Session; The Texas and New Mexico Act, the 
California Act, the Utah Act, the Fugitive Slave Act and 
the Act to Suppress the Slave Trade in the District of 
Columbia are from United States Statutes at Large, IX.] 

By the treaty of 1848 with Mexico the United States ac- 
quired Texas, New Mexico and California. As early as 
1846 at the first prospect of the acquisition the question 
whether or not slavery should be tolerated in the new terri- 

461 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

tory began to be debated. While the bill to provide for the 
purchase was before the house David Wilmot of Pennsyl- 
vania proposed an amendment, since known as the Wilmot 
proviso, excluding slavery from any territory to be acquired 
from Mexico. This proviso expressed the opinion of the 
anti-slavery party which insisted that in territory strictly 
under the jurisdiction of congress slavery should be pro- 
hibited. The slave-holding men on the other hand main- 
tained that in order to keep the balance between the two 
sections any new territory must be equally divided between 
the slave-holding and the free states. 

The struggle went on for three years ; bills for organizing 
the territory according to the Wilmot proviso passed the 
house but were rejected by the senate. California framed 
an anti-slavery constitution and 3 June 1849 asked for 
admission. New Mexico, part of which was claimed by 
Texas, also formed a state constitution. The slavery party 
demanded the rejection of California and an amendment to 
the United States Constitution which would guarantee no 
further proscription of slavery. On 29 January 1850 
Henry Clay proposed a series of resolutions intended to 
settle the vexed questions and restore harmony between the 
North and the South. On 19 April the resolutions were 
referred to a compromise committee of 13 and 8 May they 
reported a new series of seven resolutions which composed 
the real Compromise of 1850. These measures were 
grouped in one bill called the Omnibus bill. It was debated 
and amended till nothing was left of it but the act to estab- 
lish a territorial government for Utah, which was passed. 
By this time however some compromise was seen to be 
necessary, for Texas with the promise of aid from some of 
the other southern states was ready to enforce her claim 
to New Mexico. The bills which had failed when grouped 
as the Omnibus bill were all passed separately. The anti- 

462 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

slavery side gained by this compromise the admission of 
California as a free state and the prohibition of the slave- 
trade, though not of slavery, in the District of Columbia. 
The slavery party gained extensive concessions to Texas 
and a more stringent fugitive slave law. New Mexico and 
Utah were organized under territorial governments, the 
question of slavery within their limits being left for the 
present to the inhabitants. 

264 Persons . . . appointed commissioners. Accord- 
ing to decisions of the supreme court the state officials could 
not be compelled to enforce the fugitive slave law, so com- 
missioners were appointed for the purpose. 

266 Posse comitatus. The law-abiding citizens of a 
community called upon to assist a legal officer in enforcing 
a law. 

AUTHORITIES 

Life of Henry Clay. Carl Schurz. 

History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. 

Vol. I. J. F. Rhodes. 
Daniel Webster. Henry Cabot Lodge. 
Life of Daniel Webster. Vol. II. George Ticknor Curtis. 
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. 

Vol. II. Henry Wilson. 

Treaty with Mexico 1853 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo did not clearly define 
the boundaries between the United States and Mexico. The 
difference was adjusted by a treaty which ceded to the 
United States the Masilla valley, or that part of Arizona 
south of the Gila river, a region containing 45,435 square 

463 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

miles. The negotiations were conducted by James Gadsden, 
the American minister to Mexico, and the treaty is called 
by his name. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the Pacific States. Vol. V. Hubert Howe Ban- 
croft. 

The Constitutional and Political History of the United 
States. Vol. V. Dr. H. von Hoist. 



Kansas-Nebraska Act 18 5 i 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, X.] 

For a brief time the compromise of 1850 was regarded by 
both the slavery and the anti-slavery party asa " finality." 
The slavery issue was opened again early in 1854 by a 
bill introduced in the senate by Stephen A. Douglas, Chair- 
man of the senate committee on territories, providing for the 
organization of the Nebraska territory with the question 
of slavery to be left for its inhabitants to settle at the time 
of the adoption of their state constitution. Bills for the 
organization of the territory had previously been presented 
but no reference had been made to slavery. This demand 
was in accordance with the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty 
(called Squatter Sovereignty by its opponents) which 
claimed the " right of the people of an organized Territory 
under the Constitution and laws of the United States to 
govern themselves in respect to their own internal polity 
and domestic affairs." The slavery provision in the Doug- 
las bill was virtually a repeal of the Missouri compromise, 
for Nebraska was a part of the territorj^ from which slavery 
was forever to be prohibited. Douglas and his party 
claimed that the Compromise of 1850 had repealed that of 

464 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

1820 and cited the cases of the territories of Utah and New 
Mexico in which the question of slavery had been left to 
the option of the inhabitants. An amendment to the 
Nebraska bill was moved, repealing that part of the Mis- 
souri compromise which related to the territory in question. 
This was accepted by Douglas and he presented a new bill 
which provided for the organization of the Kansas and 
Nebraska territories within the disputed region instead of 
Nebraska alone. After a few other amendments the bill 
passed the senate 4 March 1854. It was discussed in the 
house till 22 May when it was passed. Because of more 
amendments it was again sent to the senate and passed 26 
May 1854. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. 

Vol. I. James Ford Rhodes. 
Constitutional and Political History of the United States. 

Vol. III. Dr. H. von Hoist. 
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. 

Vol. II. Henry Wilson. 



Lincoln s First Inaugural Address 1861 

[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 
3. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay.] 

Lincoln was nominated at Chicago 18 May I860 by the 
National Republican Convention " on the policy of restrict- 
ing slavery so as to let it die a natural death within a 
narrowly confined area." He was elected by a majority of 
57 votes in the electoral college. Between his election and 
his inauguration seven southern states had seceded, formed 
a confederation and were living under a provisional consti- 

465 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

tution. Most of the forts, dock-yards and arsenals belong- 
ing to the United States within these seven states had been 
seized by the Confederate government. Thus Lincoln met 
a problem which might have appalled even his stout heart. 
All the country was looking to see what the new president 
would do and his inaugural address was awaited with 
anxiety. 

The inauguration ceremonies were held 4 March 1861 
on the east portico of the capitol in the presence of the 
largest gathering that had ever witnessed the inauguration 
of a president. Lincoln was introduced by Senator Baker 
of Oregon, then he delivered his inaugural. The address 
which outlined the policy of the new president was wise, 
farseeing, yet dispassionate. While it yielded no principle 
to which he was bound to adhere it was not radical nor 
calculated to antagonize those who were wavering between 
loyalty to country and state. 

283 One of those speeches. This speech was Lincoln's 
reply to Douglas in the first joint debate given at Ottawa, 
Illinois 21 August 1858. 

AUTHORITIES 

The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. Henry 

J. Raymond. 
The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. II. Ida M. Tarbell. 
Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 3. John G. Nicolay 

and John Hay. 
The Civil War and the Constitution. Vol. I. John W. 

Burgess. 
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. 

Vol. III. J. F. Rhodes. 



466 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Constitution of the Confederate States of 
America 1861 

[Text derived from Confederate Statutes at Large, edi- 
tion of 1864.] 

The legislature of South Carolina, convened for the pur- 
pose of appointing presidential electors, was still in ses- 
sion when the election of Lincoln was announced. A con- 
vention was appointed to meet at Columbia to take steps for 
the preservation of the commonwealth. The convention 
met 17 December I860, and 20 December unanimously 
voted that the ordinance adopted 23 May 1788 ratifying 
the Constitution of the United States and all subsequent 
ratifications of amendments were to be considered null and 
void and that " the union subsisting between South Caro- 
lina and the other states under the name of the United 
States of America is hereby dissolved." By 1 February 
1861 Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and 
Texas had seceded. Deputies from the seven states met in 
convention at Montgomery, Alabama and drew up a consti- 
tution for a provisional government which was adopted 9 
February. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen pres- 
ident and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia vice president. 
On the day of the election of the president a committee 
was appointed to frame a constitution for a permanent 
government. This constitution was adopted 11 March and 
at once ratified by all the seceding states. The constitution 
was based upon the United States Constitution, with only 
such changes as from the point of view of the seceding 
states were demanded by the exigencies of the situation. 

295 Each State acting. This wording was adopted " in 
order that the role of the States in the free partnership 
might not again be questioned." 

467 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

301 Expenses of . . . the Post Office Department, etc. 
The makers of the constitution thought that the franking 
privilege had been abused and for that reason the post office 
department was to pay all expenses out of its own revenue 
after the given date. 

306 The President . . . shall be elected. In this con- 
vention as in that of 1787 the method of electing the pres- 
ident caused much discussion. The old method was reluc- 
tantly adopted till a better one could be devised. In making 
the president ineligible for a second term the makers of 
this constitution thought they were making a vast improve- 
ment upon the United States Constitution. They elected 
the president for six years in order to have the advantage 
of his " experience, ability and services " but they would 
not renominate him lest he should be tempted to use his 
power and influence to secure re-election. 

AUTHORITIES 

Civil History of the Government of the Confederate States. 

J. L. M. Curry. 
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. Vol. I. 

Jefferson Davis. 
The American Conflict. Vol. I. Horace Greeley. 
The Civil War and the Constitution. Vol. I. John W. 

Burgess. 
Division and Reunion. Woodrow Wilson. 

Emancipation Proclamation 1863 

[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 
6. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay.] 

Lincoln was censured by many of his party because he 
did not at once take measures to emancipate the slaves. 
But he knew that the time was not ripe for such a step; 

468 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

he must wait for public sentiment to change. " He declared 
openly," says Carl Schurz, " that he had a right to summon 
the people to fight for the Union, but not to summon them 
to fight for the abolition of slavery as a primary object; 
and this declaration gave him numberless soldiers for the 
Union who at that period would have hesitated to do battle 
against the institution of slavery." The war had been in 
progress for a year and a half when on 22 September 
1862 Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation that on 
the first day of January in the following year all slaves in 
the seceded states should be freed unless in the mean time 
such states should have come back into the Union. Accord- 
ingly 1 January 1863 the definitive emancipation proclama- 
tion was issued. 

" It was necessary to put the South at a moral disadvan- 
tage by transforming the contest from a war waged against 
States fighting for the maintenance and extension of slavery 
by making some open move for emancipation as the real 
motive of the struggle/' says Woodrow Wilson. " Once 
make the war a struggle against slavery, and the world, 
it might be hoped, would see it a moral war, not a political, 
and the sympathy of nations would begin to run for the 
North, not for the South." 

AUTHORITIES 

Abraham Lincoln. Vol. II. John T. Morse, Jr. 

The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. II. Ida M. Tarbell. 

A History of the American People. Vol. IV. Woodrow 

Wilson. 
History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. 

Vol. IV. J. F. Rhodes. 
The Civil War and the Constitution. Vol. II. John W. 

Burgess. 
The American Conflict. Vol. II. Horace Greeley. 

469 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Lincoln s Gettysburg Address 1863 

[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 
8. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay.] 

After the battle of Gettysburg the burial of the dead and 
the care of the wounded left on the battle-field fell to the 
authorities of the state of Pennsylvania. At that time it 
was proposed to set aside a portion of the battle-field "as 
a cemetery where the remains of the fallen soldiers might 
be brought together and marked with fitting monuments. 
The governors of the 17 Union states whose soldiers had 
fallen in that great struggle gave their co-operation and the 
plan was carried through. It was desired to dedicate the 
cemetery by an impressive ceremony and Mr. David Wills, 
acting for the governors of the several states, wrote to Pres- 
ident Lincoln asking that he as chief executive of the nation 
would " formally set aside these grounds to their sacred 
use by a few appropriate remarks." The ceremonies took 
place 19 November 1863. Edward Everett was the orator 
of the day and Lincoln followed his brilliant oration with 
" an address of dedication so pertinent, so brief yet so 
comprehensive, so terse yet so eloquent, linking the deeds 
of the present to the thoughts of the future, with simple 
words, in such living, original, yet exquisitely molded, 
maxim-like phrases that the best critics have awarded it 
an unquestioned rank as one of the world's masterpieces 
of rhetorical art." (Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln.) 

AUTHORITIES 

The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. Henry 

J. Raymond. 
The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Isaac N. Arnold. 
Abraham Lincoln. Noah Brooks. 

470 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 
Proclamation of Amnesty 1863 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, 
XIII.] 

This proclamation of amnesty was Lincoln's first step 
toward the solution of the problem of reconstruction which 
confronted president and congress. " Lincoln seems to 
have held from the beginning that while, as commander- 
in-chief he was bound to carry the war into the heart of 
the seceding states, he was also bound, as civil executive, 
to endeavor to restore civil relations with the states them- 
selves." In his annual message of the same date he de- 
fended the theories set forth in the proclamation. This 
proclamation indicates what his policy would have been had 
he lived to carry it out — to create by pardon a loyal party 
in the seceded states and as soon as possible put the loyal 
class in control of the state government. On 26 March 
1864 Lincoln issued a supplementary proclamation to ex- 
plain that he did not intend to include prisoners of war in 
the first proclamation. 

321 Laws . . . declaring . . . confiscation, etc. "An 
Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Pur- 
poses " was passed 6 August 1861 and " An Act to suppress 
Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, to seize 
and confiscate the Property of Rebels, and for other Pur- 
poses " was passed 17 July 1862. The latter authorized 
the president to extend pardon and amnesty to persons who 
had taken part in the rebellion. 

322 Such person shall take . . . an oath. In his mes- 
sage of the same date as the proclamation President Lincoln 
said, " There must be a test by which to separate the oppos- 
ing elements, so as to build only from the sound, and that 
test is a sufficiently liberal one which accepts as sound who- 
ever will make a sworn recantation of his unsoundness." 

471 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 






323 States of Arkansas . . . North Carolina. Virginia 
is not included because her government had already been 
recognized. 

AUTHORITIES 

A History of the American People. Vol. V. Woodrow 

Wilson. 
Reconstruction and the Constitution. John W. Burgess. 



Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 1865 

[Text derived from Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 
10. John G. Nicolay and John Hay.] 

Lincoln was renominated 8 June 1864 despite the oppo- 
sition of the radical wing of his own party who criticised 
his caution and thought that the war should have been 
pushed to a finish. Before the election, however, the for- 
tune of war turned and the North gained some important 
victories. Confidence in the president's policy was restored 
and he received 212 electoral votes. 

As before, the inauguration took place on the east portico 
of the capitol but this time the spectators saw what was 
never seen before at such a ceremony — negro citizens 
marching in the procession and forming a part of the mili- 
tary escort. The president's inaugural, in beauty and sub- 
limity, rivaled the address given on the battle-field of 
Gettysburg. Lincoln himself said of it, "I expect it to 
wear as well as, perhaps better, than anything I have pro- 
duced." 

At the conclusion of the address the oath was adminis- 
tered by Chief Justice Chase. 



472 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



AUTHORITIES 

The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. Henry 

J. Raymond. 
Abraham Lincoln, A History. Vol. 10. John G. Nicolay 

and John Hay. 

Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an 
End 1866 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, 
XIV.] 

On 10 May 1865 President Johnson issued a proclama- 
tion which substantially declared that actual hostilities had 
ceased and that armed resistance to the United States was 
virtually at an end in the seceding states. A proclamation 
of 2 April 1866 declared the insurrection at an end in all 
the states except Texas. Texas soon after adopted the 
revised constitution and the president's proclamation of 20 
August 1866 was an official notice that the insurrection was 
at an end throughout the country and that the government 
in the lately seceded states could be carried on by civil 
instead of military authority. 

AUTHORITIES 

Reconstruction and the Constitution. John W. Burgess. 

Treaty with Russia 1867 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

The possession of Alaska gave Russia a foothold upon 
American soil and that fact at one time caused the United 

473 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

States no little anxiety. However, the statement of his 
policy toward foreign powers made by President Monroe 
in 1823 put a stop to the encroachment of Russia on the 
Pacific coast. Russia did not value Alaska highly and knew 
that in case of war she would have difficulty in defending 
it. As early as 1859 she intimated her willingness to sell 
it to the United States. Throughout the Civil war Russia 
had been most friendly toward the United States and the 
desire to continue the cordial relations and at the same time 
decrease the foreign power in the United States led our 
government to accept the offer. The purchase was con- 
cluded 30 March 1867, the formal transfer of the territory 
was made at Sitka 18 October 1867, thus adding 531,409 
square miles to the possessions of the United States. 

AUTHORITIES 

History of the Pacific States. Vol. XXVIII. Hubert 
Howe Bancroft. 

Twenty Years of Congress. Vol. II. James G. Blaine. 

The Life of William H. Seward. Vol. II. Frederic Ban- 
croft. 

Treaty with Great Britain 1871 

[Text derived from Revised Statutes of the United 
States Relating to the District of Columbia, etc.] 

At the close of the Civil war several important questions 
were pending between the United States and Great Britain. 
First in importance was the claim for injuries done during 
the war by the Alabama, the Florida and other Confeder- 
ate cruisers which were fitted out in English ports and par- 
tially manned by English seamen. Besides there were dif- 
ferences in regard to the northwest boundaries which 

474 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

former treaties had not satisfactorily settled, the respective 
rights of American and Canadian fishermen and the trade 
between the United States and Canada. The correspond- 
ence in regard to the Alabama claims was begun as early as 
1862. A treaty known as the Johnson-Clarendon convention 
was signed at London 14 January 1869 but was rejected by 
the senate " because although it made provision for the part 
of the Alabama claims . . . for individual losses, the pro- 
vision for the more extensive national losses was not satis- 
factory to the Senate." On 26 January 1871 Great Britain 
proposed the appointment of a joint high commission which 
should meet at Washington to treat regarding the differences 
between the two governments concerning the British pos- 
sessions in North America. To this the United States agreed 
provided Great Britain would at the same time take up the 
Alabama claims. Accordingly five commissioners from each 
country met at Washington and concluded a treaty which 
provided for the settlement by arbitration of most of the 
difficulties. 

342 Article I-IX. The Geneva tribunal met in Decem- 
ber 1871 and gave a verdict in favor of the United States, 
awarding a gross sum of $15,500,000 to be distributed by 
the government. Charles Francis Adams represented the 
United States. 

350 Article XII-XVII. The three commissioners met 
at Washington in September 1871 and decided in favor of 
Great Britain, giving her a net award of about $2,000,000. 
James Frazer represented the United States. 

354 Article XVIII- XXV. The three commissioners ap- 
pointed to decide whether " the privileges accorded to the 
citizens of the United States under Article XVIII of this 
treaty are of greater value than those accorded by Articles 
XIX and XXI of this treaty to the subjects of her Bri- 
tannic Majesty" met at Halifax in 1877 and decided that 

475 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 



.. 



Great Britain gave more than she received and awarded her 
$5,500,000. 

364 Article XXXIV-XLII. The emperor of Germany 
decided the boundary question in favor of the United 
States. " The award leaves us for the first time in the 
history of the United States as a nation, without a question 
of disputed boundary between our territory and the posses- 
sions of Great Britain/' said President Grant. 

AUTHORITIES 

The History of the Last Quarter-Century in the United 

States. Vol. I. E. Benjamin Andrews. 
History of the United States. Vol. II. E. Benjamin 

Andrews. 
Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims. J. C. Bancroft Davis. 
Charles Francis Adams. Charles Francis Adams. 

Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 1898 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, 

XXX.] 

In 1893 a revolution took place in the Hawaiian islands. 
The queen, Liliuokalani, was only a nominal sovereign, the 
power being vested in the legislature. The queen attempted 
to force upon the people a new constitution which should 
bring the legislature under her control but the attempt 
failed. The foreigners living in the capital, most of them 
Americans, took matters into their own hands. The queen 
was forced to abdicate and a provisional government was 
set up which promised that negotiations for annexation to 
the United States should be made. The United States 
minister in the mean time took it upon himself to proclaim 

476 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

a protectorate over the islands. The outgoing president, 
Mr. Harrison, sent an annexation treaty to the senate but 
it was withdrawn by President Cleveland who disclaimed 
all that the United States minister had done. On 16 June 
1897 a second treaty was sent to congress by President 
McKinley which had that day been signed by representatives 
of both governments. The question of annexation was dis- 
cussed till March 1898 when a joint resolution was intro- 
duced into congress. This was finally passed by the house 
15 June and by the senate 6 July. The islands were for- 
mally transferred to the United States 12 August 1898 
and in April 1900 an act was passed providing for a terri- 
torial form of government. 

AUTHORITIES 

America in Hawaii. Edmund Janes Carpenter. 
A History of the American People. Vol. V. Woodrow 
Wilson. 



Recognition of the Independence of Cuba 1898 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, 

XXX.] 

On 11 April 1898 President McKinley sent a special 
message to congress asking for power and authority " to 
take measures to secure a full and final termination of 
hostilities between the Government of Spain and the people 
of Cuba, and to secure in the island the establishment of 
a stable government, capable of maintaining order and ob- 
serving its international obligations, insuring peace and 
tranquility and the security of its citizens as well as our 

477 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United 
States as may be necessary for these purposes." In accord- 
ance with this message a joint resolution for the recog- 
nition of the independence of Cuba was adopted by congress 
20 April 1898. 



AUTHORITIES 



The War With Spain. Henry Cabot Lodge. 
A History of the American People. Vol. V. Woodrow 
Wilson. 

Treaty with Spain 1898 

[Text derived from United States Statutes at Large, 
XXX.] 

On 17 July 1898 the town of Santiago and all the eastern 
ports of Cuba were surrendered to the United States forces. 
On 26 July the Spanish government through M. Carobon, 
the French ambassador at Washington, began overtures for 
peace and on 30 July definite terms were proposed. Hos- 
tilities were suspended 12 August and a peace protocol 
was signed at. Washington. The United States sent five 
commissioners to Paris to treat for peace. They met the 
Spanish commissioners 1 October and 10 December the 
treaty was concluded. The appropriation called for by 
article III was made 2 March 1899- 

AUTHORITIES 

The War with Spain. Henry Cabot Lodge. 
Senate Document No. 148 (Papers Relating to the Treaty 
with Spain) 56th Congress 2nd Session. 



478 






NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Reciprocal Commercial Convention Between the 
United States and Cuba 1902 

[Text derived from message of the President of the United 
States.] 

After the adoption of the Cuban Constitution President 
McKinley promised the Cubans that he would use his influ- 
ence to get some reciprocity measures passed which should 
lighten the burden of the tariff. President Roosevelt felt 
pledged to carry out Mr. McKinley's promise and in his 
message of December 1901 he strongly urged the passage 
of reciprocity measures. This was most necessary for the 
Cuban sugar industry was greatly depressed. There was 
much opposition to the proposition, chiefly from the manu- 
facturers of beet sugar and from parties interested in cane 
sugar in the southern states and Hawaii, and it was impossi- 
ble to get a reciprocity bill through congress before its 
adjournment in June 1902. Then the administration tried 
another plan. It sent a representative to Cuba to negotiate 
a reciprocity treaty. Such a treaty was drawn up and rati- 
fied by Cuba. A supplementary convention, extending 
the time within which the ratifications of the commercial 
treaty might be exchanged, was signed by the representa- 
tives of both countries 26 January 1903. After consider- 
able discussion the commercial treaty was ratified by the 
United States senate, 19 March 1903. A change of tariff 
rates was involved and since the Constitution gives the 
house a voice in all matters dealing with revenue, it was 
necessary to pass a bill before the treaty could go into 
effect. A joint resolution was considered in the special 
session of congress which began in November 1903, and was 
passed 16 December. The president signed the treaty the 
following day and issued a proclamation announcing that 
it would go into effect 27 December 1903. 

479 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Panama Ship-Canal Treaty 1904 

[Text derived from message of the President of the United 
States.] 

The work of building the Panama canal was begun by a 
French company organized about the year 1879- The stock 
was taken in small sums by thousands of French people and 
concessions were obtained from the republic of Colombia 
for land and other rights necessary for the work. On 21 
February 1881 the construction of the canal began under 
the direction of Ferdinand de Lessups, the famous French 
engineer. In 1888 the French stockholders grew suspicious 
that their money was not properly appropriated and refused 
to give more. It transpired that the funds had been wasted 
and that only a small part of the work had been done. In 
spite of the scandal another company was organized in 
1894—5. After a few months there was another scandal and 
no more money could be raised. Since then very little work 
has been done and the machinery and other property of 
the company on the isthmus has been going to ruin. 

In the meantime the United States government was in- 
vestigating the Nicaragua route. Some of the engineers 
became convinced that the Panama route was more desir- 
able. At this juncture the French company saw an oppor- 
tunity to get rid of a " white elephant " and proposed to 
sell out to the United States for $40,000,000. The latter 
then began negotiations, after the necessary measures had 
passed through Congress, for the purchase of the canal 
rights. In order to clear the way for the building of the 
canal the United States had to do two things — buy out the 
French company and make a treaty with Colombia for the 
control of the canal strip across the isthmus, over which 
the republic held sovereignty. A treaty with Colombia was 

480 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

drawn up early in 1903 and ratified by the congress of the 
United States, but was rejected by the Colombian congress. 
It is now said that the politicians did not intend to defeat 
the treaty finally, but the plan was to delay the matter until 
late in 1904, when the concession to the French company 
would expire, and then claim a part of the money which 
was to go to that company. 

But the prosperity of the cities of Colon and Panama de- 
pended on the building of the canal and the people of the 
isthmus were so dissatisfied with Colombia for rejecting 
the treaty that in November 1903 they seceded and set up 
a republic for themselves. Another treaty for the canal 
strip was drawn up and was ratified by the United States 
and the republic of Panama. Final steps have been taken 
for the transfer of the French company's rights to the 
United States. 

405 Contract with . . . Wyse. In 1877 the Colombian 
government granted a concession to Lucien N. B. Wyse 
for constructing a canal across the isthmus. The Panama 
Canal Company purchased the concession. 



481 



CONTENTS 

First Charter of Virginia 1606 5 
The Mayflower Compact 1620 18 
Articles of Confederation of the New England Col- 
onies 1643 19 
A Typical Early Indian Treaty 1645 28 
Declaration of Rights 1765 34 
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental 

Congress 1774 37 
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up 

Arms 1775 43 

The Declaration of Independence 1776 52 

Articles of Confederation 1777 59 

Treaty with France 1778 72 

Treaty with Great Britain 1783 77 

The Northwest Territorial Government 1787 85 

Constitution of the United States 1787 95 

Washington's First Inaugural Address 1789 118 

Washington's Second Inaugural Address 1793 123 

Proclamation of Neutrality 1793 124 

Treaty with the Six Nations 1794 126 

Treaty with Great Britain 1794 131 

Washington's Farewell Address 1796 157 

Treaty with France 1803 177 

Treaty with Great Britain 1814 183 

Treaty with Spain 1819 195 

Missouri Compromise 1820-21 206 

The Monroe Doctrine 1823 211 

Treaty with Great Britain 1842 215 

Treaty with Great Britain 1846 226 

Treaty with Mexico 1848 230 

482 



CONTENTS 

Treaty with Great Britain 1850 251 

Compromise of 1850 258 

Treaty with Mexico 1853 273 

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 280 

Lincoln's First Inaugural Address 1861 283 

Constitution of the Confederate States of America 

1861 295 

Emancipation Proclamation 1863 317 

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 1863 320 

Proclamation of Amnesty 1863 321 

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 1865 325 

Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an End 

1866 328 

Treaty with Russia 1867 335 

Treaty with Great Britain 1871 341 

Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 1898 369 

Recognition of the Independence of Cuba 1898 372 

Treaty with Spain 1898 374 
Reciprocal Commercial Convention between the United 

States and Cuba 1902 383 
Supplementary Convention between the United States 

and Cuba 1903 390 
Convention between the United States and the Repub- 
lic of Panama 1904 393 
Notes on the Text 409 
Contents 482 
Index , 484 



483 



INDEX 






Address, of colonists, to king, 42, 
46; to people of Great Britain, 
42, 46, 55; Washington's fare- 
well, 157-176. 

Admiralty courts, extension of jur- 
isdiction of, 35, 37, 41, 45. 

Admission of new states into Union, 
93, 108. 

Alabama claims, settlement of, 342- 
354. 

Alaska, boundaries of, 335-337; 
treaty for cession of, 335-340. 

Alliance, treaty of between United 
States and France, 72-76. 

Ambassadors, duty of president to 
receive, 106; original jurisdic- 
tion of supreme court in cases 
affecting, 107; recall of, 154. 

Amendments, to Constitution, pro- 
vision for, 109; added to Con- 
stitution, 112-117; Lincoln on, 
292. 

Amnesty, proclamation of, 321- 
324. 

Annexation of Hawaiian islands, 
resolution for, 369-371. 

Appellate jurisdiction of supreme 
court, 107. 

Arbitration, settlement of Alabama 
claims by, 343-354; settlement 
of Oregon boundary by, 365- 
368. 

Arms, declaration of causes and 
necessity of taking up, 43-51; 



colonists forced to resort to, 43; 
right of people to keep and bear, 
112. 

Army, power of congress to raise 
and equip, 66, 67. 

Articles, of confederation of New 
England colonies, 19-27; of con- 
federation of 1777, 59-71. 

Ashburton treaty, 215-225. 

Assemblies, colonial, dissolved, 38, 
53, 55. 

Association, non-importation, non- 
consumption, and non-exporta- 
tion, 42, 46. 

Attainder, no bill of to be passed 
by congress, 101; by any state, 
102. 

Bail, excessive, not allowed by con- 
stitution, 114. 

Bankruptcies, laws for, established 
by congress, 100. 

Bills, for raising revenue to orig- 
inate in house of representatives, 
99; all to be presented to presi- 
dent, 99; how passed over presi- 
dent's veto, 99. 

Boston, act to discontinue use of as 
port, 37, 42, 45; treachery of 
General Gage to inhabitants of, 
48. 

Boundaries, of Quebec enlarged, 
54; method of deciding disputes 
about between states, 64, 65; 



484 



INDEX 



between British possessions and 
United States, 79, 80, 186-192, 
215-219, 227, 364, 365; of 
states formed from northwest 
territory, 92, 93; of territory of 
Six Nations, 127; between 
United States and Spanish pos- 
sessions, 196-198; of Missouri, 
206, 207; of Oregon, 227, 365- 
368; between United States and 
Mexico, 234-236, 274, 275; of 
Texas, 258, 260, 262; of Utah, 
261; of New Mexico, 262, 263; 
of Alaska, 335-337; of the Phil- 
ippine islands, 375, 376; of 
Panama canal strip, 394, 395. 
Bulwer, Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 
251-257. 

California, Clay's resolution for 
admission of, 258; report on res- 
olution for admission of, 260; act 
for admission of, 263, 264. 

California, gulf of, open by treaty 
with Mexico, 236. 

Canada, provision for admission to 
confederation, 68. 

Canal, Washington urges construc- 
tion of interior, 161 ; treaty with 
Great Britain for Nicaragua, 
251-257; Great Britain to urge 
Canada to open to United 
States, 360; convention between 
United States and Panama for 
construction of, 393-408. 

Charlestown, burned by British, 
49. 

Charter, first Virginia, 5-17; col- 
onists entitled to rights granted 



by, 40; Massachusetts, taken 
away by crown, 54. 

Chinese, immigration of to Hawai- 
ian islands forbidden, 371. 

Claims, mutual relinquishment of 
by United States and Spain, 
200-203; to New Mexico, re- 
linquished by Texas, 259, 260; 
Alabama, settlement of, 342, 
354 

Clay's resolutions, 258, 259. 

Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 251-257. 

Coin, exclusive right of congress to 
regulate value of, 65. 

Colombia, president of United 
States authorized to acquire 
control of territory from, 393, 
394. 

Colonists, American, entitled to 
rights of native-born British 
subjects, 34 ; petitions of treated 
with contempt, 46, 55. 

Colorado river open by treaty of 
1848, 236. 

Columbia, District of, suppression 
of slave-trade in, 259, 260, 272; 
fugitive slave law in, 270-272. 

Columbia river open to Hudson 
bay company, 227. 

Commerce, power of congress to 
regulate, 100. 

Commissioners, board of, estab- 
lished by parliament, 37. 

Committee of thirteen, recapitula- 
tion of report of, 260. 

Compact, Mayflower, 18. 

Compromise, Missouri, 206-210; 
repeal of, 281, 282. 

Compromise of 1850, 258-272; 



485 



INDEX 



Clay's resolutions, 258, 259; re- 
capitulation of report of com- 
mittee of thirteen, 260; Utah act, 
261; Texas and New Mexico 
act, 261-263; California act, 
263, 264; Fugitive slave act, 
264-271 ; act to suppress slave- 
trade in District of Columbia, 
272. 

Concord, assault on, 48. 

Confederation, articles of new 
England colonies, 19-27; arti- 
cles of 1777, 59-71. 

Confiscations, not to be made 
against British loyalists, 82; not 
to be made in case of war be- 
tween Great Britain and United 
States, 143; of Mexican property 
not allowed, 244. 

Congress, confederate, choice and 
apportionment of representa- 
tives, 295, 296; choice and ap- 
portionment of senators, 296; 
powers and duties of each house, 
298; adjournment of, 298; power 
of, 300-302; appropriation of 
money by, 303; messages and 
recommendations of president to, 
310; power to punish treason, 
311; power to legislate over new 
territory, 313; proposition of 
amendments by, 313, 314. 

Congress, continental, declaration 
and resolves of first, 37-42; 
deputies to appointed by several 
colonies, 38. 

Congress, United States, choice 
and apportionment of represen- 
tatives, 95, 96; choice and appor- 

486 



tionment of senators, 96; powers 
and duties of each house, 98; 
adjournment of, 98; power of, 
99-101, 108; time of choosing 
presidential electors determined 
by, 104; messages and recom- 
mendations to by president, 106; 
power of to punish treason, 107; 
proposition of amendments by, 
109. 
Constitution, confederate, 295-316; 
qualifications of representatives, 
295; apportionment of repre- 
sentatives, 295, 296; qualifica- 
tions of senators, 297; powers of 
each house, 298; compensation 
of members of congress, 298; 
passage of bills, 299, 300; power 
of congress, 300-302; importa- 
tion of negroes from foreign 
countries forbidden, 302; right 
of habeas corpus, 303; bill of at- 
tainder and ex post facto law for- 
bidden, 303; rules for appropria- 
tion of money, 303; no title of 
nobility to be granted, 304; no 
law respecting an establishment 
of religion allowed, 304; freedom 
of speech and of the press not to 
be abridged, 304; right to bear 
arms, 304 ; right to trial by jury, 
305; restrictions on power of 
states, 305, 306; election of presi- 
dent and vice-president, 306, 
307; removal of president from 
office, 308; duties of president, 
309, 310; judicial power, 310, 
311 ; treason and its punishment, 
311; jurisdiction of supreme 



INDEX 



court, 311; fugitive slave law, 
312; rights of states, 312; ad- 
mission of new states, 312; ac- 
quisition of territory, 313; con- 
stitution guarantees protection to 
every state, 313; provision for 
amendments, 313, 314; shall be 
the law of the land, 314. 
Constitution, United States, 95- 
111; qualifications of represen- 
tatives, 95; apportionment of 
representatives, 95, 96; qualifi- 
cations of senators, 97; duties of 
the senate, 97; powers and duties 
of each house, 97, 98; compen- 
sation of members of congress, 
98; passage of bills, 99; powers of 
congress, 99-101; importation of 
slaves forbidden after 1808, 101 ; 
right of habeas corpus, 101; bill 
of attainder and ex post facto law 
forbidden, 101 ; no taxes between 
states, 102; appropriations of 
money from treasury, 102; no 
title of nobility to be granted, 
102; restrictions on power of 
states, 102, 103; election of presi- 
dent and vice-president, 103, 
104, 114, 115; qualifications for 
president, 104 ; removal of presi- 
dent from office, 104; duties of 
president, 105, 106; judicial 
power, 106, 107; jurisdiction of 
supreme court, 107; treason and 
its punishment, 107; rights of 
states, 107, 108; fugitive slave 
law, 108; admission of new 
states, 108; rules respecting ter- 
ritory, 108; protection of United 



States guaranteed to each state, 
108; provision for amendments, 
109; shall be the supreme law 
of the land, 109; amendments to, 
112-117; Lincoln quotes from, 
284; Lincoln declares no right 
therein written denied, 288. 

Consuls appointed by United 
States and Great Britain, 147. 

Contraband of war, citizens of 
United States forbidden to carry, 
124; procedure with vessels sus- 
pected of carrying, 147; enumer- 
ation of articles comprising, 148. 

Convention, reciprocal, between 
United States and Cuba, 383- 
389; supplementary, between 
United States and Cuba, 390- 
392; between United States and 
Panama, 393-408. 

Copyright secured to authors by 
congress, 100. 

Council appointed by British 
crown, 40, 54. 

Counterfeiting of coin punishable 
by congress, 100. 

Credit, full, to be given to each 
state, 60, 107, 108. 

Creditors, debts to be paid to both 
British and United States, 81; 
compensation to be made to 
British, 137. 

Cuba, recognition of independence 
of, 372, 373; Spain relinquishes 
claim to, 375; reciprocal com- 
mercial convention between 
United States and, 383-389; 
supplementary, between United 
States and, 390-392. 



487 



INDEX 



Declaration of rights, 34-36. 

Declaration and resolves of first 
continental congress, 37-42. 

Declaration of causes and neces- 
sity of taking up arms, 43-51. 

Declaration of independence, 52- 
58. 

Debt, public, power of congress to 
pay, 99; as valid under Consti- 
tution as under articles of con- 
federation, 109; validity not to 
be questioned, 117; Washing- 
ton urges payment of, 169. 

Detroit river open by treaty of 
1842, 223. 

District of Columbia, suppres- 
sion of slave-trade in, 259, 260, 
272; fugitive slave law in, 270, 
271. 

Duties, imposed on colonists by 
Great Britain, 35, 37, 45, 47, 54; 
repeal of stamp requested, 36; on 
British goods, 134, 361-363; on 
Indian goods, 134; between 
Great Britain and United States, 
146; on French and Spanish 
goods, 180; between United 
States and Spain, 382; between 
United States and Cuba, 383- 
388; between United States and 
Panama, 401. 

Education, encouragement of 
means of in northwest territory, 
91. 

Election, writs of, vacancies in 
representation filled by, 96; of 
president and vice-president, 
103, 104, 114, 115. 



Electors, presidential, qualifica- 
tions of, 95; appointment of, 
103; method of voting, 114, 115. 

Emancipation proclamation, 317- 
319. 

Excises, power of congress to lay 
and collect, 99 ; must be uniform 
throughout United States, 100. 

Ex post facto law, not be passed by 
congress, 101 ; by any state, 102. 

Extradition of criminals, between 
states, 60, 108; agreement for 
between United States and 
Great Britain, 155, 224. 

Farewell address, Washington's, 
157-176. 

Fisheries, colonists prohibited 
from by Great Britain, 47; 
rights in granted to United 
States by Great Britain, 80, 
354-356. 

Florida, Spain cedes to United 
States, 196. 

France, and United States unite 
against Great Britain, 72, 73 
treaty with of 1778, 72-76 
treaty with of 1803, 177-182 
cedes Louisiana to United 
States, 178, 179. 

Fugitive slaves, law for reclaiming 
in northwest territorial govern- 
ment, 94; clause in Constitution, 
108; provision for prompt de- 
livery of, 259, 260; act, 264-272; 
law in District of Columbia, 
270, 271; law in Nebraska, 281; 
Lincoln quotes clause from 
Constitution, 284; enforcement 



488 



INDEX 



of law, 285, 290, 291; clause in 
Confederate Constitution, 312. 

Gadsden treaty, 273-279. 

Gage, General, sent to subdue 
colonists, 47; assault upon Lex- 
ington and Concord, 48; treach- 
ery of to inhabitants of Boston, 
48; proclamation of, 49. 

Gettysburg, Lincoln's address at, 
320. 

Ghent, treaty of, 183-194. 

Gila river open by treaty of 1848, 
237. 

Great Britain, colonists disclaim 
intention to separate from, 50; 
France and United States form 
treaty of alliance against, 72; 
acknowledges independence of 
United States, 78; treaty with of 
1783, 77-84; treaty with of 1794, 
131-156; promises to vacate 
posts and places assigned to 
United States, 132; United 
States agree to pay delayed debts 
to subjects of, 137; agrees to in- 
demnify United States citizens 
for illegal capture of vessels, 140; 
United States agrees to indem- 
nify subjects of for capture of 
vessels, 142; subjects of to retain 
lands held in the United States, 
143; debts nor money of not to 
be confiscated in case of war, 
143 ; consuls to be appointed by, 
147; treaty with of 1814, 183- 
194; and United States agree to 
stop hostilities with Indians, 193; 
and United States unite to 



abolish traffic in slaves, 193; 
treaty with of 1842, 215-225 ; and 
United States agree to suppress 
slave-trade, 223, 224 ; treaty 
with of 1846, 226-229; treaty 
with of 1850, 251-257; treaty 
with of 1871, 341-368. 

Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 
230-250; abrogation of articles 
in, 275-277. 

Guam, Spain cedes to United 
States, 375. 

Habeas corpus, right of in north- 
west territory, 90; not to be sus- 
pended unless required by pub- 
lic safety, 101. 

Hawaiian islands, annexation of, 
369-371; public debt of, 370, 
371; government of, 370, 371; 
treaties of, with foreign powers, 
370. 

House of representatives, choice of 
members, 95; qualification of 
members, 95 ; apportionment of 
representatives, 95, 96, 116; has 
sole power of impeachment, 96; 
compensation of members, 98; 
all bills for raising revenue to 
originate in, 99; part of in elec- 
tion of president, 104, 115. 

Hudson's bay company, Columbia 
river open to, 227. 

Impeachment, punishment of, 97; 
senate has sole power to try, 97; 
of president and all civil offi- 
cers, 106. 



489 



INDEX 



Importation of slaves after 1808 
forbidden by Constitution, 101. 

Imposts, power of congress to lay, 
99; to be uniform throughout 
United States, 100; net produce 
to be for United States treasury, 
102. 

Impressment of American seamen 
by Great Britain, 55. 

Inaugural address, Washington's 
first, 118-122; Washington's 
second, 123; Lincoln's first, 283- 
294; Lincoln's second, 325-327. 

Independence, declaration of, 52- 
58; Great Britain acknowledges 
the United States, 78; of Spanish- 
American colonies, recognition 
of, 212, 213; of Cuba, recogni- 
tion of, 372, 373; United States 
guarantees to Panama, 394. 

Indians, typical early treaty with, 
28-33; instigated against colo- 
nists by Great Britain, 49, 55; 
good faith toward in northwest 
territory, 91; treaty with Six 
Nations, 126-130; United States 
and Great Britain agree to stop 
hostilities toward, 192, 193; 
control of in territory ceded by 
Mexico, 239, 240; rights of in 
Nebraska, 281. 

Insurrection, proclamation declar- 
ing at an end, 328-334. 

James, king, grants charter of Vir- 
ginia, 5-17. 

Jay treaty, 131-156. 

Jefferson, Thomas, on capture of 
British vessels, 141. 



Johnson, Andrew, proclamation 
declaring insurrection at an end, 
328-334. 

Judges made dependent on British 
crown, 37, 54. 

Judicial power of United States, 
how vested, 106; extent of, 107. 

Jury, trial by, colonists deprived 
of, 41, 45, 54; right to in north- 
west territory, 90; provided for 
in Constitution, 107, 113. 

Kansas-Nebraska act, 280-282. 
Kansas, provisions relating to ter- 
ritory of, 282. 

Law of nations, violation of pun- 
ishable by congress, 100. 

Legislations, colonial, suspended, 
45, 55. 

Letters of marque and reprisal, 63, 
100. 

Lexington, assault on, 48. 

Lincoln, Abraham, first inaugural 
address, 283-294; denies inten- 
tion to interfere with existing 
slavery, 283; quotes fugitive 
slave clause from Constitution, 
284; on enforcement of fugitive 
slave law, 284,-285, 290, 291; 
holds union of states to be per- 
petual, 286, 287; declares no law 
written in Constitution denied, 
288; calls central idea of seces- 
sion anarchy, 289, 290; dis- 
cusses decision of constitutional 
questions by supreme court, 290; 
shows difference between seces- 



490 



INDEX 



sion and divorce, 291 ; on amend- 
ments to Constitution,292 ; eman- 
cipation proclamation, 317-319; 
Gettysburg address, 320; proc- 
lamation of amnesty, 321-324; 
second inaugural address, 325- 
327. 
Louisiana, treaty for cession of, 
177-182; ceded to France by 
Spain, 178; ceded to United 
States by France, 178. 

Maine, destruction of battleship, 
372. 

Manila, capture of, 376. 

Marque, letters of, 63, 100. 

Massachusetts Bay, act for regu- 
lating government of, 38, 42, 45 ; 
act for impartial administration 
of justice in, 38, 42, 45; parlia- 
ment declares to be in rebellion, 
47. 

Mayflower compact, 18. 

Mexico, treaty with, of 1848, 230- 
250; possession of custom houses 
to be restored to, 232; military 
property to be restored to, 233; 
control of Indians in territory 
ceded by, 239, 240; claims of 
and against discharged, 241- 
243; no slavery condition in ter- 
ritory derived from, 258;. treaty 
with of 1853, 273-279. 

Michigan, lake, open to Great 
Britain, 360. 

Militia, provision for organization 
of, 101; power of congress to call 
out, 101; president commander 
of, 105; necessary to security of 



state, 112; trial of cases arising 
in, 113. 

Mississippi river, open by treaty of 
1783, 83; by treaty of 1794, 133; 
survey of, 135, 136. 

Missouri compromise, 206-210 ; 
enabling act, 206-209; resolu- 
tion of March 2, 209, 210; repeal 
of compromise, 281, 282. 

Missouri, state of, enabling act, 
206-209; authorized to form 
state constitution, 206; bounda- 
ries of, 206, 207; resolution for 
admission of, 209, 210. 

Money, coinage of in power of con- 
gress, 100; power of congress to 
borrow, 100. 

Monroe doctrine, 211-214. 

Monroe, James, states his foreign 
policy, 211-214. 

Most favored nation, France to be 
treated on footing of, 181. 

Napoleon sells Louisiana to United 
States, 178. 

Nations, law of, offence against 
punishable by congress, 100. 

Naturalization, laws for obstruct- 
ing passed by British, 53 ; rule 
for established by congress, 100. 

Navy, power of congress to pro- 
vide, 66, 100. 

Nebraska, provision for admission 
of without slavery restrictions, 
280; Kansas-Nebraska act, 280- 
282; boundary of, 280, 281. 

Negroes, not to be carried away by 
the British, 83; importation of 
forbidden by Constitution, 101; 



491 



INDEX 



emancipated 8 January, 1863, 
317. 

Neutrality, proclamation of, 124; 
Washington's views on, 174, 175; 
principles of in Monroe doctrine, 
213, 214; of Nicaragua canal 
guaranteed, 253, 254. 

New England colonies, articles of 
confederation, 19-27. 

New Mexico, excluded from Texas 
258, 260; claim to relinquished 
by Texas, 259; government 
of, 260; act for admission of, 
262, 263; boundary of, 262, 263. 

New Orleans, ceded to United 
States, 179; French and Spanish 
ships admitted to by United 
States, 180. 

Nicaragua canal, treaty with Great 
Britain for, 251-257. 

Nobility, no title of to be granted, 
102. 

Non-importation, non - consump- 
tion, non-exportation association, 
42, 46. 

Northwest territorial government, 
85-94. 

Oath, form taken by president, 105 ; 
members of congress bound 
by to support the Constitution, 
110; form to be taken by those 
desiring amnesty, 322. 

Oregon, boundaries of, 227, 365- 
368. 

Original jurisdiction of supreme 
court, 107. 

Panama, proposed canal by way of 






isthmus of, 256; convention be- 
tween United States and repub- 
lic of, 393-408. 

Patents secured to inventors by 
congress, 100. 

Petitions of colonists treated with 
contempt, 38, 46, 55. 

Philippine islands, Spain cedes to 
United States, 375; boundaries 
of, 375. 

Piracies punishable by congress, 
100. 

Pirates, privileges of states against, 
62; treatment of by treaty of 
1794, 150, 151. 

Porto Rico, Spain cedes to United 
States, 375. 

Post offices and post roads estab- 
lished by congress, 100. 

President, all bills, orders, resolu- 
tions to be presented to, 99 
election of, 103, 104, 114, 115 
removal of from office, 104 
powers and duties of, 105, 106; 
compensation of, 105. 

Proclamation, of neutrality, 124, 
125; emancipation, 317-319; of 
amnesty, 321-324; declaring in- 
surrection at an end, 328-334. 

Proviso, Wilmot, territorial gov- 
ernment in New Mexico and 
Utah without, 260. 

Puget's sound company, property 
confirmed to, 228. 

Quartering of British soldiers, 42, 

45, 54. 
Quebec, act for government of, 38, 

42, 45, 54. 



492 



INDEX 



Reciprocal convention between 
United States and Cuba, 383- 
389. 

Religion, Roman Catholic estab- 
lished in Quebec, 42; no person 
to be molested on account of, 90; 
congress not to make laws re- 
specting establishment of, 112. 

Representatives, qualifications of, 
95; apportionment of, 95, 96, 
116; time of electing, 97; com- 
pensation of, 98. 

Representation, in legislative coun- 
cils the foundation of English 
liberty, 39; method of, under 
confederation, 61; provision for 
in northwest territory, 88, 89; 
vacancies in filled by writs of 
election, 96. 

Reprisal, letters of, granted by 
congress, 100. 

Republican administration, fears 
of South in regard to, 283. 

Restitution of estates to be made 
to British, 81, 82. 

Revenue, bills for to originate in 
house of representatives, 99; 
taxes necessary for, 170. 

Rights, declaration of, 34-36; col- 
onists declare they did not forfeit 
by emigration from Great Brit- 
ain, 39, 40; state, maintenance 
of essential to balance of power, 
283, 284. 

Rio Bravo del Norte, open by 
treaty of 1848, 237. 

Roman Catholic religion estab- 
lished in Quebec, 42. 

Russia, proposal to negotiate be- 



tween United States and Great 
Britain, 211; treaty with for 
Alaska, 335-340. 

St. Croix river, survey of, 137. 

St. Johns river open by treaty of 
1842, 219, 220. 

St. Lawrence river open by treaty 
of 1842, 223; by treaty of Wash- 
ington, 359. 

Secession, Lincoln's definition of, 
289; Lincoln contrasts with di- 
vorce, 291. 

Senate, United States, members of, 
96; vice-president the president 
of, 97; sole power of to try im- 
peachments, 97; relation of to 
bills for raising revenue, 99; 
president of to open certificates 
of election, 103, 115; advice and 
consent of, necessary to make 
treaties, 105. 

Senators, qualifications of, 96, 97; 
division of, 96; time of election 
of, 97; compensation of, 98. 

Six Nations, treaty with, 126-130; 
boundaries of territory, 127; 
annual allowance to, 129. 

Slavery, provision against in north- 
west territory, 94; abolition of by 
thirteenth amendment, 116; pro- 
hibited north of 36° 30' north 
latitude, 209; admission of Cal- 
ifornia without restriction as to, 
258; exclusion of from territory 
acquired from Mexico, 258; inex- 
pedient to abolish in District of 
Columbia, 259; admission of 
Utah without restriction as to, 



493 



INDEX 



261 ; admission of New Mexico 
without restriction as to, 263; 
admission of Nebraska without 
restriction as to, 280; Lincoln's 
declaration of non-interference 
with existing, 283; position of 
under the Constitution, 289; 
prohibition of by congress in the 
territories, 289; the real dispute 
between North and South, 290. 

Slaves, importation of after 1808 
forbidden, 101; Great Britain 
and United States agree to abol- 
ish traffic in, 193, 215, 216; freed 
by Lincoln's proclamation, 317, 
318. 

Slave trade, Great Britain and 
United States agree to suppress, 
223; suppression of in District 
of Columbia, 259, 260, 272; no 
power in congress to prohibit 
between slave-holding states, 
259. 

Soldiers, quartering of on colonists, 
42, 45, 54. 

Spain, treaty with, of 1795, 164; 
cedes Louisiana to France, 178; 
treaty with of 1819, 195-205; 
cedes Florida to United States, 
196; United States renounces 
claim against, 200-203; receives 
help from allied powers, 213; 
treaty with of 1898, 374-382; 
relinquishes claim to Cuba, 375, 
378; cedes Porto Rico to United 
States, 375; cedes Guam to 
United States, 375; cedes Phil- 
ippine islands to United States, 
375, 376. 



Spanish-American colonies, recog- 
nition of independence of, 212, 
213. 

Speaker of house of representa- 
tives chosen by members, 
96. 

South, slavery believed to be right 
by, 290. 

Stamp duties tend to subvert 
rights of colonists, 35; repeal of 
asked, 36. 

Standing armies, kept by Great 
Britain in America, 37, 40, 42, 
54. 

State rights, maintenance of essen- 
tial to balance of power, 283, 
284. 

Supreme court, judges of, 106; 
original and appellate jurisdic- 
tion of, 107; questions to be de- 
cided by, 290. 

Tariff laws between United States 
and Cuba, 384-389. 

Taxes, illegally imposed on colo- 
nists, 34, 35, 37, 54; for war ex- 
penses to be levied by state legis- 
latures, 63; in northwest terri- 
tory, 92; apportionment by Con- 
stitution, 95; power of congress 
to lay, 99; on slaves imported, 
101; forbidden between states, 
102; Washington shows neces- 
sity for, 170; agreement con- 
cerning between United States 
and Panama, 399H101. 

Tehuantepec, isthmus of, proposed 
canal across, 256; proposed road 
across, 278. 
494 



INDEX 



Territories, government of, 258, 
260, 281. 

Texas, boundary of, 258, 260, 262; 
relinquishes claim to New Mex- 
ico, 259, 262; admission of new 
states formed from, 260; act for 
admission of, 261 ; payment to by 
United States, 262. 

Tobacco, United States, no rebate 
of duty on when imported into 
Cuba, 387. 

Trade, of colonists cut off by Great 
Britain, 35, 54; between British 
possessions and United States, 
144, 145. 

Treason, colonists transported to 
England to be tried for, 37, 45, 
54; denned, 107; punishment of, 
107. 

Treaty, a typical early Indian, 28- 
33; with France, 1778, 72-76; 
with Great Britain, 1783, 77-84; 
with the Six Nations, 126-130; 
with Great Britain, 1794, 131- 
156; with France, 1803, 177-182; 
with Great. Britain, 1814, 183- 
194; with Spain, 1819, 195-205; 
with Great Britain, 1842, 215- 
225; with Great Britain, 1846, 
226-229; with Mexico, 1848, 
230-250; with Great Britain, 
1850, 251-257; with Mexico, 
1853, 273-279; with Russia, 
1867, 335-340; with Great 
Britain, 1871, 341-368; between 
the Hawaiian islands and foreign 
nations, 370; with Spain, 1898, 
374-382; between United States 
and Cuba, 383-389, 390-392; 



between United States and 
Panama, 393-408. 

Uncas, defended by colonies, 28; 
Narragansetts and Nyanticks 
make peace with, 30. 

Union, federal, Washington urges 
continuance of, 160-164; older 
than Constitution, 286; declared 
by Lincoln to be perpetual, 286, 
287; disruption of physically 
impossible, 291. 

United States Constitution, 95- 
111; qualifications of represen- 
tatives, 95; apportionment of 
representatives, 95, 96; qualifi- 
cations of senators, 97; duties of 
the senate, 97; powers and duties 
of each house, 97, 98; compensa- 
tion of members of congress, 98; 
passage of bills, 99; power of 
congress, 99-101 ; importation of 
slaves forbidden after 1808, 101; 
right of habeas corpus, 101; bill 
of attainder and ex post facto law 
forbidden, 101; no taxes be- 
tween states, 102; appropria- 
tions of money from treasury, 
102; no title of nobility to be 
granted, 102; restrictions on 
power of states, 102, 103; elec- 
tion of president and vice- 
president, 103, 104, 114, 115; 
qualifications for president, 104; 
removal of president from office, 
104; duties of president, 105, 
106; judicial power, 106, 107; 
jurisdiction of supreme court, 
107; treason and its punishment, 



495 



INDEX 



107; rights of states, 107, 108; 
fugitive slave law, 108; admis- 
sion of new states, 108; rules re- 
specting territory, 108; protec- 
tion of United States guaranteed 
to each state, 108; provision for 
amendments, 109; shall be the 
supreme law of the land, 109; 
amendments to, 112-117; Lin- 
coln quotes from, 284; Lincoln 
declares no right written there- 
in denied, 288. 
Utah, government of, 260; act for 
admission of, 261; boundary of, 
261. 

Vice-president, president of senate, 
97; election of, 103, 104, 114, 115; 
succession to presidency, 104; 
removal of from office, 104; im- 
peachment of, 106. 

Virginia, first charter of, 5-17. 

Vote, right to not to be abridged 
by race or color, 117. 

War, power of congress to declare, 
63, 100; states forbidden to en- 
gage in, 62, 103. 

Warrants to be supported by oath 
or affirmation, 113. 

Washington, George, first inaugu- 
ral address, 118-122; traces 
hand of Providence in history of 
country, 119: pays tribute to 



congress, 120; declines salary for 
services, 121, 122; second in- 
augural address, 123; proclama- 
tion of neutrality, 124; farewell 
address, 157-176; declines re- 
nomination, 157; expresses grati- 
tude to country, 158, 159; urges 
continuance of union of states, 
160-164; warns against factions, 
165; shows need of strong gov- 
ernment, 166; warns against 
party spirit, 166, 167; advises 
departments to keep within 
their constitutional spheres, 168; 
shows religion and morality to 
be necessary to government, 168, 
169; need of institutions of 
learning, 169; urges payment of 
national debt, 169; refers to 
necessity for taxes, 170; attitude 
of toward other nations, 170- 
176. 

Washington, treaty of, 341-368. 

Webster- Ashburton treaty, 215- 
225. 

Wilmot proviso, territorial govern- 
ment in New Mexico and Utah 
without, 260. 

Witnesses, criminals to have com- 
pulsory process for obtaining, 
113. 

Writs of election, vacancies in 
representation to be filled by, 
96. 



496 



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of the world's acknowledged classics — those books pub- 
lished more than 50 years ago which have survived severe 
criticism and remain unimpaired in vitality and in their 
power to entertain — the old books whose vitality time has 
touched so lightly that they may be thought of as immortal. 

We do not reprint a book merely because it is classical. 
It must be both entertaining and classical. 

The unit idea is not the gist or substance of the enter- 
prise, but is used as an advertising means to an end — that 
end being the wider circulation of books hitherto not always 
easily accessible. 

HOW ARE THESE BOOKS EDITED? In the case 
of books originally written in the English language the 
reprints are based on the best existing texts as determined 
hy an expert in bibliography. Our editions of such ancient 

497 



and recent continental writings as have survived, and now 
deserve wider reading, are based on translations which have 
stood the test of a half -century of criticism. 

Our editions may be depended upon for the accuracy of 
the reprint, the practical value of the annotation, the relative 
perfection of the proof-reading. Our proofs are not en- 
trusted to the printer, but are read by experienced editors. 
They are read three times after the printer has done his 
best. The reprints are unabridged and unexpurgated. 

All editorial matter tends to convey exact encyclopedic 
information rather than the personal opinions of the editor. 
This information is intended to be helpful and readable. 
It includes the bibliographical story of the book — under 
what conditions it was written, how it was received and what 
place it has come to occupy in the minds of men — the bio- 
graphical story of the author, terse notes explaining allu- 
sions and proper names in the text, a table of dates show- 
ing the place of the author and his book in literary history, 
a glossary where needed, an index, and a table of authorities. 

IS THIS ANOTHER LITERARY PIRACY? The 

copyright laws of every country will be scrupulously ob- 
served. Wherever the circumstances warrant the Unit re- 
print will be issued by arrangement with the former owner 
of the literary rights involved, though the work in question 
may be technically not in copyright. 

The series does not consist exclusively of non-copyright 
books, but includes books still in copyright in the United 
States and in Great Britain. By arrangement with their 
authors certain books of practical value are to be issued on 
the unit system. 

ARE THE BOOKS PRESENTABLE? The Unit 
issues are printed in a broad-faced type, clear and legible, 
and not from worn-out plates. The paper is a soft white, 
opaque and light in the hand. It is technically known as 

498 



"featherweight/' and is peculiarly soft and mellow. The 
margins are wide and the effect is simple and dignified. 

Dr. Johnson once said: "The books that can be held in 
the hand and carried to the fireside are the best after all." 
We had the good doctor's dictum in mind when the question 
of format had to be decided. We remembered also that Sir 
Walter Scott was fond of a certain edition of his works, 
chiefly on the score of its size. And we founded our format 
on the dimensions of this edition. In height seven inches, 
in breadth four and a half inches, in thickness varying 
from five-eighths to one inch, our volume is a trim, com- 
pact book of a size that does not weary the wrist, but is 
pleasant to carry in the pocket and large enough to appear 
well on the library shelf. The issues vary in length from 
200 to 600 pages. 

The paper and cloth-bound copies will have cut edges and 
the full leather-bound copies a gilt top. The paper wrap- 
per is stout and will not tear readily. The cloth cover is a 
durable linen crash stamped in gold. The full leather bind- 
ing is in a new pattern lettered in gold. All the bindings 
are flexible and will bear long usage. A dark green is the 
uniform color of the three bindings. This is the type-face 
adopted for this series. This is the quality of paper used 
in all editions. These are the margins and the dimensions 
of the book itself. 

WHY "A NEW WAY OF PUBLISHING BOOKS"? 

We began with the proposition that books worth having are 
too dear in this country. Here the dear books and the cheap 
books are dearer than the corresponding books of the great 
reading nations of Europe. Such is the need. We answer 
it with The Unit Books, the cheapest series of books ever 
published in America and made on a system fair to book- 
producer and to book-buyer. 

Our books are sold at prices based on the length of the 
book and therefore on the actual cost of production. How- 

499 



ever long the original text, we publish it in its entirety on a 
uniform quality of paper and. in the same size of type. 

We begin with our unit of 25 pages. 

The price of each set of 25 pages is two cents. 

The price of 100 pages is 8 cents, and each additional 
25 pages adds two cents to the price. 

Thus, 250 pages cost 20 cents and 400 pages cost 32 
cents. 

We bind our books in three bindings — 

Stiff paper of a durable sort. 

Cloth with gold title. 

Full leather lettered in gold. 

A paper wrapper is given with the printed pages. 

The cloth cover costs 30 cents additional. 

The full leather binding costs 50 cents additional. 

Prices are strictly net. 

The price of the single volume is regulated by the number 
of units it contains and by the binding you choose. 

Postage is charged extra at the rate of eight cents per 
volume. Orders must be accompanied by the proper remit- 
tance, as we cannot afford to open small accounts. 

It is this principle of proportionate prices which the gen- 
eral title of the series is intended to emphasize. The price 
of the book is printed on the paper wrapper, and is in- 
serted in the cloth and leather bindings in such a way as 
to permit its removal without damaging the book. 

This new system of publishing is more logical than the 
system of fixed prices for reprints. Other things being 
equal, it costs less to produce a short book than a long one. 
Hitherto the selling price of the short book has been as high 
as that of the long. And even the longest book has not 
been sold to you at a loss. We give you the benefit of the 
saving on the shorter book. Our prices are regulated by 
the cost of the actual materials and workmanship which go 
toward the making of the book. 



500 



WITH WHAT BOOKS DOES THE UNIT SERIES 
BEGIN? In compiling this list of the first 100 books the 
publisher attempted to produce a catholic collection of books, 
in which every person, however unusual his literary tastes, 
may find at least one book to satisfy and profit him. This 
list will be amended and added to from time to time. The 
texts will appear on the first day of each month. As the 
lengths and prices of The Unit Books are determined, an- 
nouncements will be made in these bulletins. 

The Unit Books may be had separately or in any com- 
bination you may prefer. 

The list is tentative. We invite suggestions from every 
lover of good books. If you would like to see a reprint of 
any book write us about it. 

Where price is not given below you may remit 40 cents 
for paper, 70 cents for cloth, 90 cents for leather. 

ADD EIGHT CENTS PER VOLUME FOR POSTAGE 

1 The Marble Faun Nathaniel Hawthorne 1 Sept. 1903 

21 units (524 pages) cloth 72 cts 
paper 42 cts leather 92 cts 

2 Letters and Addresses Abraham Lincoln 1 Oct. 1903 

16 units (399 pages) cloth 62 cts 
paper 32 cts leather 82 cts 

3 Tales of Mystery Edgar Allan Poe 1 Nov. 1903 

21 units (507 pages) cloth 72 cts 
paper 42 cts leather 92 cts 

4 Life of Jesus Ernest Renan 1 Dec. 1903 

19 units (454 pages) cloth 68 cts 
paper 38 cts leather 88 cts 

5 Prue and I George William Curtis 1 Jan. 1994 

8 units (176 pages) cloth 46 cts 
paper 16 cts leather 66 cts 

6 Domestic Manners of the Americans Mrs. Trollope 

1 Feb. 1904 

17 units (402 pages) cloth 64 cts 
paper 34 cts leather 84 cts 

501 



7 Study of Words Archbishop Trench 1 Mch. 1904 

13 units (320 pages) cloth 56 cts 
paper 26 cts leather 76 cts 

8 National Documents (collection of state 

papers) 1 April 1904 
21 units (504 pages) cloth 72 cts 
paper 42 cts leather 92 cts 

9 Intellectual Life P. G. Hamerton 1 May 1904 

10 Nonsense Books Edward Lear 1 June 1904 

11 The Journals of Lewis and Clark 1 July 1904 

12 De Quincey's Essays 1 Aug. 1904 

13 Familiar Letters of James Howell 1 Sept. 1904 

14 Life of Benvenuto Cellini 1 Oct. 1904 

15 Pater's Marius the Epicurean 1 Nov. 1904 

16 Boker's Francesca da Rimini (with a com- 

parative study of other versions) 1 Dec. 1904 

17 Rejected Addresses and other prose paro- 

dies and burlesques 1 Jan. 1905 

18 Goethe's Faust 1 Feb. 1905 

19 The Old Red Sandstone Hugh Miller 1 Mch. 1905 

20 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 1 April 1905 

21 Hertzka's Trip to Freeland 1 May 1905 

22 Horace in Latin and English 1 June 1905 

23 Swinburne's Poems 1 July 1905 

24 The Philippines in the 17th Century 1 Aug. 1905 

25 The Yemassee W. G. Simms 1 Sept. 1905 

26 Knickerbocker's New York Irving 1 Oct. 1905 

27 Democracy in America De Tocqueville 1 Nov. 1905 

28 Unit Book of Facts 1 Dec. 1905 

29 Poems of Walt Whitman 1 Jan. 1906 

30 Autobiography and Poor Richard's 

Almanac by Franklin 1 Feb. 1906 
Vanity Fair Thackeray 
Arthur Mervyn Charles Brockden Brown 

Law for Every Day 

The Conspiracy of Pontiac Parkman 

502 



The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table Holmes 

Geoffrey Hamlyn Henry Kingsley 

Doctor Thorne Anthony Trollope 
Eothen Kinglake 
The Conquest of Mexico Prescott 

A First Book on Electricity 
A Sentimental Journey Sterne 

On the Origin of Species Darwin 

The Buccaneers of America Lieut. Burney 
The Poems of Robert Browning 
Pickwick Papers Dickens 

Margaret Sylvester Judd 

Tales Gaboriau 

Two Years Before the Mast Dana 
A Pronouncing Dictionary 
A Tale of Two Cities Dickens 

Monarchs Retired from Business John Doran 

Chemical History of a Candle Faraday 

Our Village (first series) Mary Mitford 
Confessions of Rousseau 
Past and Present Carlyle 
The Last Days of Pompeii Lytton 
Noctes Ambrosianae John Wilson 

Some Fruits of Solitude William Penn 
The Microscope P. H. Gosse 

Last of the Mohicans Cooper 

The Comedies of Sheridan 
Familiar Colloquies of Erasmus 
The Rise of the Dutch Republic Motley 

Voyage of a Naturalist Darwin 

Typee Herman Melville 

Natural History of Selborne Gilbert White 
The Three Musketeers Dumas 

Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green Cuthbert Bede 

Physical Geography of the Sea Lieut. Maury 

A Cyclopedia of Literary Allusions 
Discourse on Painting Sir Joshua Reynolds 
503 



A Dictionary of Classical Quotations 

A Handbook of Proverbs 

Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry 

Plutarch's Lives 

Dante's Divine Comedy 

Homer's Odyssey 

Virgil in Latin and English 

The Essays of Sainte-Beuve 

Hakluyt's Principal Navigations 

Ivanhoe Scott 

Don Quixote Cervantes 

The Plays of Shakespeare 

Fairy Tales The Brothers Grimm 

Notre Dame Victor Hugo 

Paul and Virginia Saint Pierre 

Monks of Thelema Besant and Rice 

The Bible in Spain George Borrow 

Legends of the Madonna Mrs. Jameson 

Essays of Elia Charles Lamb 

The Cloister and the Hearth Charles Reade 

Adam Bede George Eliot 

Aurora Leigh Mrs. Browning 

On Compromise John Morley 

Villette Charlotte Bronte 

Marjorie Fleming and Rab and his Friends J 61 ji 

Brown 
St. Winifred's F. W. Farrar 

Fable of the Bees Bernard de Mandeville 

The Apocrypha / 

Apologia Pro Vita Sua Newman 
Froissart's Chronicles 

ADD 8 CTS. PER VOLUME FOR POSTAGE 

Howard Wilford Bell 

publisher of The Unit Books 

259 Fifth avenue New York 
1 April 1904 



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